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63o C^GRi'SsI HOUSE OF REPRESENTATrVES {°?lV!l713^ 



SERENO ELISHA PAYNE 

(Late a Representative from New York) 

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS 



Proceedings in the House Proceedings in the Senate 

Februar>' 7, 1915 December 11, 1914 



3)3 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF (^"X 

THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 




/.{ 



WASHINGTON 

1916 







D. of D. 
JUN 5 1916 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page. 

Proceedings in the House of Representatives 5-83 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D-- 5, 20 

Funeral services — 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, 

D.D 9,12 

Scripture readings by the Chaplain 10 

Song, " Nearer, My God, to Thee," by quartet choir 

of Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, D. C-.- 13 

Address by Rev. Samuel H. Greene, D. D., pastor of 

Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, D. C 13 

Song, " Lead, Kindly Light," by quartet choir of 

Calvary Baptist Church 10 

Benediction by the Chaplain 16 

Memorial addresses by^ — 

Mr. William M. Calder, of New York 23 

Mr. Champ Clark, of Missouri 28 

Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois 32 

Mr. Joseph A. Goulden, of New York 35 

Mr. Richard W. Austin, of Tennessee 37 

Mr. Edward L. Hamilton, of Michigan 40 

Mr. Edwin S. Underbill, of New Y'^ork 44 

Mr. Joseph W. Fordney, of Michigan 46 

Mr. Luther W. Mott, of New York 51 

Mr. James S. Parker, of New York 55 

Mr. Edmund Piatt, of New York 57 

Mr. John J. Fitzgerald, of New York 60 

Mr. William S. Greene, of JIassachusetts 62 

Mr. Frank W. Mondell, of Wyoming 67 

Mr. Richard Wayne Parker, of New Jersey 70 

Mr. Charles H. Sloan, of Nebraska 72 

Mr. Samuel Wallin, of New York 75 

Mr. J. Hampton Moore, of Pennsylvania 77 

Mr. Henry G. Danforth, of New York 81 



[3] 



Table of Contents 



Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate 85-88 

Prayer by ttie Chaplain, Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, 
D. D 86 

Tributes— 

By the Committee on Ways and Means, House of Repre- 
sentatives 91 

By the United States District Court, Northern District 

of New York 92 

By the Cayuga County Bar Association 94 

By the Common Council of the City of Auburn, N. Y.. 96 

By the Republican State Committee of New York 98 

By the Class of 1864 of the University of Rochester, 

N. Y - 18 



[4] 




HON. SERENO E. PAYNE. 



DEATH OF HON. SERENO ELISHA PAYNE 



Proceedings in the House 

Friday, December 11, 19U. 
The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Lord God Almighty, Creator and Father of all souls. 
Thy will is supreme, and Thy will is good will, for Thou 
dost love Thy children and satisfiest the longing souls 
with hopes and aspirations, and leadest them on in 
thoughts and deeds which live after them. A great sor- 
row has come to this House in the death of a strong man, 
firm in his convictions, pure in his motives, which en- 
deared him to all who knew him, and who for years has 
held a conspicuous place on the floor of this House. In 
the committees to which he was assigned his counsel was 
sought. A statesman who served with all vigor and wis- 
dom his State and Nation, Sereno E. Pa^'NE will live; 
his going will be mourned by his people and by all with 
whom he came in contact. 

We thank Thee for his life, for his character, and what 
he did. Comfort us and his family in the everlasting hope 
of the immortality of the soul. Help us to follow his ex- 
ample, to emulate his virtues, and cherish his memon,\ 
And teach us the value of well doing, and guide us by 
Thine own counsels, that we may leave the impress of our 
character on those who shall come after us. "A good 
name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving 
favor rather than silver and gold." So keep us all in the 



[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

way of righteousness, and bring us at last into Thine 
everlasting kingdom. In the spirit of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Amen. 

Mr. Fitzgerald. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my sad duty to 
announce to the House the death of my colleague, the 
dean of the House and one of its most distinguished 
Members, the Hon. Sereno E. Payne, who passed away 
last night at his residence in this city. At some future 
time I shall ask the House to set aside a date to be de- 
voted to the deliveiy of eulogies upon the life, charactei", 
and public services of the deceased. At present I offer 
the resolutions which I send to the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

House resolution 673 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. Sebeno Elisha Payne, a Representative from 
the State of New York. 

Resolved, That a committee of the House be appointed to take 
order for superintending the funeral of Mr. Payne in the House of 
Representatives at 11 o'clock a. m. on Sunday, December 13, in- 
stant, and that the House of Representatives attend tlie same. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the remains of Mr. 
Payne be removed from Washington to Auburn, N. Y., in charge 
of the Sergeant at Arms, attended by tlie committee, who shall 
have full power to carry these resolutions into effect, and that 
the necessary expenses in connection therewith be paid out 
of the contingent fund of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these pro- 
ceedings to the Senate and invite the Vice President and the 
Senate to attend the funeral in the House of Representatives and 
to appoint a committee to act with the committee of the House. 

Resolved, That invitations be extended to the President of the 
United States and the members of his Cabinet, the Chief Justice 
and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
the Diplomatic Corps (through the Secretary of State), the 
Admiral of the Navy, and the Chief of Staff of the Army to attend 
the funeral in the House of Representatives. 



[6] 



Proceedings in the House 



The resolution was agreed to, and the Speaker an- 
nounced as the committee on the part of the House Mr. 
Fitzgerald, Mr. Underwood, Mr. Mann, Mr. Jones, Mr. 
Talbott of Maryland, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Gillett, Mr. Bar- 
tholdt, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Butler, Mr. Greene of Massachu- 
setts, Mr. Hamilton of Michigan, Mr. Mondell, Mr. 
Fordney, Mr. Murdock, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Moore, Mr. 
Kitchin, Mr. Rainey, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Hull, Mr. Hammond, 
Mr. Sloan, Mr. Brown of New York, Mr. O'Leary, Mr. 
Wilson of New York, Mr. Dale, Mr. Maher, Mr. Calder, 
Mr. Griffin, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Metz, Mr. Riordan, Mr. Gold- 
fogle, Mr. Levj', Mr. Conry, Mr. Dooling, Mr. Carew, Mr. 
Patten of New Y'ork, Mr. Chandler of New York, Mr. 
Cantor, Mr. George, Mr. Bruckner,. Mr. Goulden, Mr. 
Oglesby, Mr. Taylor of New York, Mr. Piatt, Mr. Mc- 
Clellan, Mr. Ten Eyck, Mr. Parker of New York, Mr. 
Wallin, Mr. Mott, Mr. Talcott of New York, Mr. Fairchild, 
Mr. Clancy, Mr. Underhill, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Danforth, Mr. 
Gittins, Mr. Smith of New York, Mr. DriscoU, Mr. Hamil- 
ton of New York, and Mr. Loft. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the last resolution. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House do now 
adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 12 o'clock 
and 38 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned until Satur- 
day, December 12, 1914, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

Saturday, December 12, 191L 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Carr, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the follow- 
ing resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the 
announcement of the death of Hon. Sereno Elisha Payne, late a 
Representative from the State of New York. 

[7] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

Resolved, That a committee of 10 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President, to join a committee appointed by the House of 
Representatives, to take order for the superintending of the 
funeral of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Senate accepts the invitation of the House of 
Representatives extended to the President of the Senate and the 
Senate to attend the funeral of the deceased, to be held in the Hall 
of the House of Representatives at 11 o'clock a. m. on Sunday 
next, December 13, 1914. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the Senate do now 
adjourn. 

And that in compliance of the foregoing the Vice Presi- 
dent had appointed under the second resolution, as the 
committee on the part of the Senate, Mr. Root, Mr. O'Gor- 
man, Mr. Clark of Wyoming, Mr. Marline of New Jersey, 
Mr. Brandegee, Mr. Ashurst, Mr. Lodge, Mr. Smith of 
Georgia, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Bankhead. 



[8] 



Funeral Services in the Hall of the House of Repre- 
sentatives 

Sunday, December 13, 19H. 
The House met at 10 o'clock and 30 minutes a. m. 
The Chaplain, Rev. Heniy N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Thy blessing descend upon us, O God our Father, as 
the dews of Hermon as we thus gather in the solemn 
presence of the dead, that our hearts may be mellowed, 
our faith lifted up to a higher altitude, and our hopes 
strengthened for the service which is to follow; in the 
name and spirit of the Lord Christ. Amen. 

Mr. Page of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I ask unani- 
mous consent that the House recess until 10 o'clock and 50 
minutes a. m. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from North Carolina asks 
unanimous consent that the House stand in recess for 15 
minutes. Is there objection? 

There was no objection. 

Accordingly (at 10 o'clock and 35 minutes a. m.), the 
House took a recess. 

The recess having expired, the House was again called 
to order by the Speaker. 

The remains of the late Mr. Payne lay in state in the 
space in front of the Clerk's desk. 

At 10 o'clock and 54 minutes a. m. the Doorkeeper an- 
nounced the Senate, and they took the places assigned 
to them on the right of the Speaker, the President pro 
tempore [Mr. Thornton] occupying a seat at the Speaker's 
desk. 

[9] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

The following were then announced and took the places 
assigned to them : 

Ambassadors to the United States and members of the 
Diplomatic Corps. 

The New York delegation in Congress. 

The Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. 

Members of the President's Cabinet. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., read selec- 
tions from the Scriptures as follows: 

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament 
sheweth His handiwork. 

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth 
knowledge. 

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. 

Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to 
the end of the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the 
sun. 

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and re- 
joiceth as a strong man to run a race. 

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit 
unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testi- 
mony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me 
beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the path of righteous- 
ness for His name's sake. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me: Thy rod cmd Thy staff 
they comfort me. 

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also 
in me. 

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I 
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and 
receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also. 

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 



[10] 



Funeral Services in the Hall of the House 



For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we 
die, we die unto the Lord: Whether we live therefore, or die, we 
are the Lord's. 

For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he 
might be Lord both of the dead and living. 

But some man will say. How are the dead raised up? and with 
what body do they come? 

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it 

die. 

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that 
shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other 
grain : 

But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every 
seed His own body. 

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of 
men, another flesh of beasts, another of flshes, and another of 
birds. 

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the 
glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is 
another. 

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, 
and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another 
star in glory. 

So also is the resurrection of the dead, h is sown in corrup- 
tion; it is raised in incorruption: 

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weak- 
ness; it is raised in power: 

U is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There 
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were 
dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens. 

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with 
our house which is from heaven: 

If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: 
not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that 
mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who 
also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 

[11] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to 
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
Lord. 

The Chaplain then offered the following prayer: 

" Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all genera- 
tions. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever 
Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from 
everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." 

From time immemorial, amid the changing scenes and 
conflicts of life, the heart of man has ever turned to Thee, 
O God our Father, for light to guide, strength to sustain, 
and courage in every time of trouble. So we turn to Thee 
in this hour of sorrow. Open Thou our spiritual eyes, 
that we may see the glories round about us; our spiritual 
ears, " that we may hear the rustle of wings," the song of 
angels; our spiritual hearts, that we may feel the warm 
currents of Thy love and be reassured in our longings, 
hopes, and aspirations. 

A friend, a colleague, a servant of the people, has 
passed from the scenes of the Now to the realms beyond. 
Time and space are nothing. Life in Thee alone is life. 
So we believe, so we aspire, so we pray. Our coming 
together to-day in memory of a great man is the earnest 
of that immortality which springs spontaneously from 
the soul and lifts us to the realms of high heaven, source 
of all good. 

His deeds speak more eloquently than tongue or pen of 
his worth to State and Nation. It is well thus to com- 
memorate them, that he may live again in those who shall 
come after him. 

Comfort those who knew and loved him, especially his 
bereaved family, in the undying hope of the eternal and 
everlasting life in a risen and glorified Christ. For Thine 
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. 
Amen. 

[12] 



Funeral Services in the Hall of the House 



The quartet choir of Calvarj' Baptist Church, Wasliing- 
ton, D. C, sang " Nearer, my God, to Thee." 

Rev. Samuel H. Greene, D. D., pastor of Calvary Baptist 
Church, Washington, D. C, spoke as follows : 

Men die, but sorrow never dies; 
The crowding years divide in vain, 
And the wide world is knit with ties 
Of common brotherhood in pain. 

This solemn sense of relationship is ours to-day as we 
come to pay our tribute to the memory of one whose long 
and distinguished service has made us all his debtors. It 
seems fitting that this manly form should be brought 
again within these walls where for nearly a third of a 
century he was a conspicuous figure in national legisla- 
tion. Pausing tenderly and reverently beside our dead, 
let us pray — 

So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts 
unto wisdom. 

Consciously or unconsciously, we are recognizing God 
in hours like this, the Greater Life that must be behind 
our own, in whose favor alone we find peace and hope; 
the Source of all Aiithorit>% at whose summons we pass 
to the great beyond. This center fact of the universe finds 
emphasis in all the crucial hours of human life. Its call 
sounds when we grope helplessly in the darkness; it 
sounds when on the mountain top our vision is largest, 
and it sounds when at last our little boat puts out to sea. 

Jesus, lover of my soul, 
Let me to thy bosom fly, 
While the nearer waters roll. 
While the tempest still is high, 
Hide me, my Savior, hide. 
Till the storm of life is past; 
Safe into the haven guide, 
Oh, receive my soul at last. 



[13] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

There are some hours when the sense of common loss is 
so great that we forget our little differences, and in that 
hallowed light stand face to face with our better selves. 
It is one of the compensations of sorrow. This remark- 
able gathering, the place, and the hour are a splendid 
tribute to the memory of a great and good man, and an 
equal tribute to the better qualities of American manhood 
as represented here to-day. 

Mr. Payne seemed the natural product of the family 
whose name he bore. For generations they had been a 
sturdy, industrious, prosperous, religious people. He was 
born in the university town of Hamilton, N. Y. In its fine 
atmosphere of culture his early life was spent. Here he 
began a college course which was completed in Rochester 
University, from which he graduated in 1864. Two years 
later he commenced the practice of law in the city of 
Auburn. His thoroughness as a student, his rare good 
judgment, his unquestioned integrity and marked ability 
soon won for him wide and abiding popularity. His 
townsmen hastened to honor him with the evidences of 
their esteem and confidence. As city clerk, district at- 
torney for Cayuga County, and as president of the board 
of education he served with distinction. In a city of 
wealth and culture he became one of its foremost citizens. 
His home life was ideal, his church life happy, the Sunday 
school he superintended prosperous, and his friends an 
ever-increasing multitude. Thus early in his young man- 
hood he was crowned with the favor of God and men. 

Out of such homes and such lives can a nation build 
strongly and securely. It is not strange that from such a 
place and such endeavors his fellow citizens should call 
him as their Representative at the National Capital. 

Mr. Payne's long and conspicuous career here is a fine 
illustration of the worth of character in public life. Deep 
down in the American heart, whatever may be its own 
shortcomings, there is an abiding reverence for honesty, 

[14] 



Funeral Services in the Hall of the House 



purity, and courage. It is not the wish of our people that 
promotions come shadowed by political dishonor or 
tricks of trade. When the people are persuaded that in 
the face of temptations a man is too honest to do wrong, 
too good to be untrue, too near to God to speak falsely, 
even for personal gain, then they mean to honor him 
with more than a temporai-y allegiance. It is an abiding 
witness to the high character of our departed friend that 
the people who knew him best were his stanchest friends 
and ardent admirers. 

And here in the stress and storm of political debate and 
changing conditions this strong, fearless man, standing 
sometimes in the front of the fray, never ceased to be 
manly or stooped to conquer. For the purity and strength 
of his character he was honored and loved by all. 

Around this casket all bitterness dies as we bear our 
tearful tribute to American manhood and American 
statesmanship. 

Those who differed with him most were quick and glad 
to recognize his great learning, wide experience, splendid 
courage, and absolute honesty. 

These high qualities of character commanded the ad- 
miration and loyalty of his constituency at home and an 
acknowledged position among his colleagues here. If 
from this sad place the message may go to the young men 
of our Nation that character and service are the condi- 
tions of place and permanency in public life, our friend 
and brother will have added yet another contribution to 
the life of the country he loved and served so long and 
well. 

Mr. Payne was a man of deep religious convictions. 
Reared in a Christian home, uniting early with the 
church, called to its activities, he soon became recognized 
as a devoted and efficient leader. He gave generously of 
his time, his means, and his influence. 



[15] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

On coming to this city he immediately identified him- 
self with a church of his own denomination, and few were 
more regular or loyal attendants on its public services. 
On many occasions he there bore tender and eloquent 
testimony to his Christian faith. 

It was but natural that at last he should be found with 
the open Bible beside him. The noble and devoted wife 
had passed to her reward three years ago, the son was in 
another city, no kin were near when that last hour came 
on, but the One Book that had so long been a light to his 
pathway was beside him as he entered the valley and the 
shadow of death. 

At the end of a long and honored career he rests from 
his labors in the blessed hope of the resurrection and the 
life everlasting. In this distinguished presence we pay 
this grateful tribute to his memory, and pray that the God 
of all grace may comfort this sorrowing family and the 
many whose hearts are heavy with sense of great and 
personal loss. 

So live that when thy summons comes to join 
The innumerable caravan which moves 
To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death, 
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

The choir sang " Lead, Kindly Light." 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., pro- 
nounced the following benediction : 

And now, Almightly God, our heavenly Father, sanctify 
our hearts by this service, and let the spirit which has 
come into them lead us all the journey of life, and at last 
bring us to Thee; in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
our Savior. Amen. 



[16] 



Funeral Services in the Hall of the House 

The members of the President's Cabinet, the Chief 
Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, the Ambassadors to the United States 
and the Diplomatic Corps, the Senate, and the committee 
appointed on the part of the Senate and House to escort 
the remains withdrew from the Chamber in the order 
named. 



4094°— 16 2 fl7] 



Monday, December 21, 'Wl't. 

Mr. Parker of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent to extend my remarks in the Record. I desire 
to have incorporated in the Record a resolution by resi- 
dent members of the class of 1864 of the University of 
Rochester, December 11, 1914, with regard to the death 
of Hon. Sereno E. Payne. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from New York asks 
unanimous consent to extend his remarks in the Record. 
Is there objection? [After a pause.] The Chair hears 
none. 

The resolution is as follows: 

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER CLASS MEMORIAL TO HON. SERENO E. 
PAYNE, LL. D. 

At a meeting of the resident members of the class of 1864 of the 
University of Rochester, December 11, 1914, held because of the 
sudden death of our classmate, the Hon. Sereno E. Payne, LL. D., 
of Auburn, N. Y., it was decided to express our regrets at this 
national loss, and our personal appreciation of his character and 
distinguished career, by this informal memorial. 

At the recent " golden " anniversary of our class day and com- 
mencement, the week of June 11, 1914, Mr. Payne was one of the 
six members of our class permitted to gather for this dual reunion 
at the altars of our alma mater. 

Mr. Pay'ne was the central figure in our class exercises, and the 
chief spokesman, after our honored president, in the social festivi- 
ties of commencement day. 

In our class reunion he was the same genial, simple, honest, 
frank " old boy " of 54 years ago, when we first met as a class in 
the old United States Hotel Building, Buffalo Street. There was 
nothing then to indicate the prophetic appropriateness of his title 
to the subsequent career of national celebrity and achievement to 
the ruddy-faced Auburn boy, or the present standing among the 
halls of learning of the United States of our alma mater in the 
fourteenth year of its strenuous struggle for academic foothold. 

[18] 



Proceedings in the House 



What an incentive this joint record of boy and university is to 
students and institutions, unknown to-day, yet with the same 
possibilities before them. 

Longfellow did not dream that in his immortal " Psalm of Life " 
he was inscribing his own epitaph, as well as the historic record 
of many others, in his paradoxical phrase of imperishable im- 
print in the shifting toys of " every wind that blows," when he 

wrote: 

" Lives of great men all remind us 

We can make our lives sublime. 

And, departing, leave behind us 

Footprints on the sands of time." 

These words of eulogy do not seem an unfitting laurel crown 
for the man who has reflected honor upon the city of his birth 
and residence, upon his alma mater and its proud city, upon the 
Empire State and all her associated States. 

Finally, we, his classmates and friends, are proud of the boy 
and the man, the classmate and citizen, the fellow student and 
statesman. 

We most sincerely desire to extend our sympathy and con- 
dolence and our congratulations on his record to his surviving 
son, his city, our own cily and university, to his State and na- 
tional friends, and to his associates in the House of Representa- 
tives of the Sixty-third Congress, honored by his active member- 
ship up to the moment of his solemn, unwitnessed summons. 

For the class of 1864. 

Edward Dwight Chapin, President. 
Charles Wiltshire Wood, Secretary. 

Wednesday, January 6, i915. 

Mr. Calder. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 

Mr. Wingo. The point of no quorum was made. 

The Speaker. Will the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. 
Wingo] withhold his point, so that the gentleman can 
offer a resolution? 

Mr. Wingo. I will if the gentleman from Ohio will with- 
draw his motion for the previous question. Just so long 
as the parliamentary status is maintained 

The Speaker. It will be maintained. The gentleman 
from New York [Mr. Calder] offers a resolution, which 
the Clerk will report. 

[19] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

The Clerk read as follows : 

House resolution 697 

Resolved, That Sunday, February 7, be set apart for services 
upon the life, character, and public services of the Hon. Sereno E. 
Payne, late a Representative from the State of New York, and of 
the Hon. Edwin A. Merritt, Jr., late a Representative from the State 
of New York. 

The Speaker. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolution. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

Sunday, February 7, i915. 

The House met at 12 o'clock noon, and was called to 
order by Mr. Fitzgerald as Speaker pro tempore. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer : 

Father in heaven, we thank Thee for the gift of life, its 
wonderful opportunities and far-reaching purposes, the 
earnest of that personal innnortality which Thou hast 
woven into the warp and woof of our being, which 
through faith, hope, love, lifts us in our better moments 
up even to the throne of Thy divinity, and fills our hearts 
with longing, hopes, and aspirations; forces, though un- 
seen, which are ever moving us on to the betterment of 
conditions in our homes, in society, in governments, in 
religion. 

We are here on this sacred day to memorialize the life 
and character of two Members of this great body who, 
though dead, still live in our hearts and in the works they 
wrought as servants of the people. Make us strong to 
emulate, wise to pursue, earnest, faithful, that we may 
achieve and leave the impress of our personality behind 
us and be worthy of the gifts Thou hast bestowed upon 
us. May we look forward with those to whom the de- 
parted were near and dear in the unbroken continuity of 
life which shall bring us to them in the realms of larger 

[20] 



Proceedings in the House 



light, life, and purity; through Him who taught us the 
way, and the truth, and the life. Amen. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will read the 
order of the day. 
The Clerk read as follows : 

On motion of Mr. Calder, by unanimous consent, 
Ordered, That Sunday, February 7, 1915, be set apart for serv- 
ices upon the lives, characters, and public services of Hon. 
Sereno E. Payne and Hon. Edwin A. Merritt, Jr., late Representa- 
tives from the State of New York. 

Mr. Calder. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolu- 
tion. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from New York offers a 
resolution, which the Clerk will report. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolution 725 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, 
that an opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of 
the Hon. Sereno E. Payne, late a Member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives from the State of New York, and to the memory of the 
Hon. Edwin A. Merritt, Jr., late a Member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives from the State of New York. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased, and in recognition of their eminent abilities as dis- 
tinguished public servants, the House, at the conclusion of these 
memorial proceedings, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of tliese 
resolutions to the families of the deceased. 

The resolution was agreed to. 



[21] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Calder, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: Sereno Elisha Payne, our fellow mem- 
ber, and a distinguished statesman, was, on December 10, 
1914, to our great loss and bereavement, suddenly called 
from his sphere of usefulness in the House of Representa- 
tives of the United States, where for more than a third of 
a century he had served his State and his country with 
great distinction and honor. 

He was born at Hamilton, N. Y., June 26, 1843, was grad- 
uated from the University of Rochester in 1864, was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1866, was city clerk of Auburn, N. Y., 
1868-1871, was supervisor of Auburn, 1871-72, was dis- 
trict attorney of Cayuga County, 1873-1879, was president 
of the board of education at Auburn 1879-1882, and was 
elected a Member of the House of Representatives to the 
Forty-eighth Congress, where he served continuously, 
with the exception of the Fiftieth Congress, to the time of 
his death. He had been recently elected to the Sixty- 
fourth Congress. 

He was appointed a member of the Ways and Means 
Committee of the House December 10, 1889, in the Fifty- 
first Congress, and served as chairman of that great com- 
mittee from January 20, 1899, to 1913. By a strange coin- 
cidence he was a member of the committee for exactly a 
quarter of a century. During his service in Congress he 
assisted in the preparation of five great tariff measures. 
He was an ardent believer in the Republican doctrine of 
protection. By many his views on the tariff question were 
not correctly understood. He was not, as was popularly 
supposed, an extreme protectionist. He believed that the 
organization of great industries in this country which 
lessened competition between manufacturers made it 

[23] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

necessary to readjust our tariff rates. On the funda- 
mental principles of protection he never wavered, but was 
ready at all times to readjust the tariff rates to meet 
changing conditions. As chairman of the Committee on 
Ways and Means of the House he prepared the last 
Republican tariff measure, which beai's his name. It did 
not express his individual views in all of its schedules, 
but the provisions in it for a maximum and minimum 
tariff were framed by him and marked that measure as a 
great advance in the tariff legislation of the country. To 
the preparation of that measure he devoted untiring 
energy, skill, and labor. He was an acknowledged au- 
thority on all questions relating to the tariff and fiscal 
policies of the United States. 

He was active in the councils of his party, twice served 
as chairman of the Republican State convention of New 
York, and was a delegate to the Republican national con- 
ventions of 1892, 1896, 1900, 1908, and 1912. 

In recognition of his ability as a statesman he was ap- 
pointed a member of the American-Rritish Joint High 
Commission in January, 1899. 

Thus for nearly half a century Sereno E. Payne was 
identified with the public life of his State and country. 
His career was marked by integrity of character, firmness 
of purpose, and adherence to principle. He commanded 
the respect of members of all political parties and the 
affection of a large circle of friends by a blameless, use- 
ful, and honorable life. 

It was my privilege 10 years ago to be elected to Con- 
gress from a district in the State of New York, and on 
entering upon my duties here I felt it was incumbent upon 
me to pay my respects to Mr. Payne, who was the dean 
of the delegation. In all of these years I found him not 
only a party associate, but a warm personal friend, will- 
ing at any time to help guide the younger men in their 
efforts to secure consideration for legislation in which 

[24] 



Address of Mr. Calder, of New York 



Ihey were interested. In all these years I came to know 
him intimately. 

His good wife, with whom he had lived for over 40 
years, was called to the better world two years ago, and 
her death seemed to leave a void in his life. While he 
continued his activities in the House those who knew him 
well observed in him a marked change. 

When I entered the House of Repi-esentatives in the 
Fifty-ninth Congress Mr. Payne had as his associates from 
the State of New York in the House such distinguished 
men as the late Vice President Sherman, Alexander, 
Wadsworth, Littauer, Dwight, Fassett, Driscoll, Parsons, 
Bennet, Olcott, Vreeland, Goulden, Cockran, Fitzgerald, 
Cocks, Andrus, Ketcham, Bradley, Draper, and Law— all 
men of high character and large influence in the deter- 
mining of the important legislation of that day. All but 
Representative Fitzgerald and myself have left the serv- 
ice here, and some have passed to the great beyond. Of 
the Republicans from New York State who served in that 
Congress I am the only one left, and so I am accorded the 
privilege to speak of Mr. Payne's leadership of these great 
men. I was honored by the Speaker when selected as one 
of the committee to accompany Mr. Payne's remains to 
his old home in Auburn, a beautiful city in the great 
agricultural section of central New York. Mr. Payne was 
known there to every man, woman, and child. He was 
truthfully the first citizen of the city. It was a bleak 
December day; the streets were covered with snow, and 
over the whole city there hung the dull gray veil of sor- 
row for the death of a man widely known and well 
beloved. 

The church of which he was a member and officer was 
thronged with his saddened friends, and the splendid 
eulogies of the two distinguished clergymen who officiated 
at his funeral service portrayed faithfully the life work 
and the noble character of the deceased. 

[25] 



Memorial Addresses; Representative Payne 

I recall distinctly the rendering by the Rev. Dr. Sirrell 
of Tennyson's beautifxil poem, " Crossing the Bar : " 

Sunset and evening star, 

And one clear call for me I 
And may there be no moaning of the bar, 

When I put out to sea, 

But such a tide as moving seems asleep. 

Too full for sound and foam, 
When that which drew from out the boundless deep 

Turns again home. 

Twilight and evening bell, 

And after that the dark! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell, 

When I embark; 

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place 

The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see my Pilot face to face 

^Vhen I have crost the bar. 

Though the flood did bear him far upon the boundless 
deep of life and strife, his devotion to the Christian 
Church and his years of service to his fellow men and to 
his country will bear him safely over the bar to face the 
great Pilot who so gently bade him sleep at the close of 
his working day. 

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to read the following letters 
from two of Mr. Payne's former associates in the House 
of Representatives. 

From former Representative McCall, of Massachusetts: 

I served with Hon. Sereno E. Payne for 20 years in the House 
of Representatives. For 14 years of that time I was with him 
upon the Ways and Means Committee. I understand that he had 
a longer period of service upon that committee and was also for 
a longer time its chairman than any other man in our history. In 
my opinion Mr. Payne has never been surpassed by any of his 
countrymen in his broad and at the same time exact knowledge of 
all matters relating to tarifT taxation. His mind was a great store- 
house of facts, which upon occasion he would state in lucid order 

[26] 



Address of Mr. Calder, of New York 

and in a way that would give the strongest possible support to 
the principles of taxation in which he believed. He was reso- 
lutely high-minded and firm and never easily swerved. One 
could not know him well without deeply respecting his rugged- 
ness of character and his ability and accomplishments. He was 
one of the notable figures in the history of the House and was 
identified in a responsible way with much of the most important 
legislation of more than a quarter of a century. 
Sincerely, yours, 

S. W. McCall. 

From former Representative Bennet, of New York: 

How rapidly after all the personnel of Congress changes. When 
Mr. Payne passed away the other day the last Representative of 
the old red-carnation group, which was so powerful when you 
and I came to Congress 10 years ago, disappeared from this Con- 
gress. Mr. Payne was an American good to have known; a 
product of a time when partisanship was more intense through- 
out the country; an active leader in the struggle for the supremacy 
of our party for nearly a quarter of a century; a believer in our 
party principles; another one in that long and honorable list of 
American statesmen who had power over millions of money; 
lived modestly always and left no great estate. One of the 
triumphs of our institution is the number of our politically power- 
ful men in public office who have so lived and died. 

If it could be planned in advance, one could wish for no more 
useful career than Mr. Payne's was; a man of ability, successful 
professionally, with a comfortable environment, a stanch be- 
liever in the principles of his particular party and in their ad- 
vocacy as a patriotic duty, he was able to devote the bulk of his 
mature years and his great ability to a sturdy fight for that party 
and those principles. 

In both 1912 and 1914 I had the pleasure of campaigning in Mr. 
Payne's district and was impressed by the affection and respect 
which the people whom he had served so long had for their 
Congressman. 

I am personally glad that at the close of this busy American life 
there was no twilight zone of sickness, or material decay of the 
faculties, and that he was occupied to the last in the business of 
the House, in which for so many years he had been one of its most 
useful members. 

Yours, very truly, 

William S. Bennet. 
[27] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: There is an old saying to the effect that 
it is folly to reserve kind words about a man until after 
he is dead, and that they should be uttered while he still 
lives. I have always acted on that dictum. In some 
preliminary remarks in my five hours' speech on the 
Payne tariff bill, March 24, 1909, I made the following 
statement: 

" 1 desire to congratulate the distinguished chairman 
of the Ways and Means Committee [Mr. Payne]. I do it 
from the bottom of my heart. He has now become a great 
historical personage. The history of the United States 
can not be written now and leave out the name of Sereno 
E. Payne, of New York. He takes his place in the com- 
pany of Henry Clay, Robert J. Walker, Justin S. Morrill, 
William McKinley, William L. Wilson, and Nelson Ding- 
ley as father of a great tariff bill, which must be referred 
to as long as men discuss the tariff in the United States, 
which, judging the future by the past, will be until Gabriel 
blows his trumpet. 

" There is another thing on which I congratulate the 
chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and I do 
it as honestly as 1 did the other, that during the course of 
these hearings, and by his nine and one-half hours' 
speech, he has knocked higher than a kite the idiotic 
theory of Dr. Osier. 

" Be it understood that I am not complaining in any 
degree whatever because he spoke nine and a half hours; 
it was a superb vindication of his phj^sical and mental 
strength, and under the circumstances of the case and 
the character of the speech he was making, explanatory 
and defensive, answering a good many questions from 



[28] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 



this side, and carrying on an extended debate with his 
political confreres on that side, I do not see how it could 
have been shorter; and what is more, I am not dead sure 
but that it was the wisest thing he could have done from 
a political standpoint, because a good many Republican 
gentlemen, having fired their shots, will not want to make 
speeches on the bill. 

" While I am making these preliminary statements — 
and I do not think I am wasting time in making them — 1 
want to say a word about the Committee on Ways and 
Means. I say now that no 18 men— because there were 
only 18, Mr. Granger being sick with the disease which 
finally proved fatal to him — no 18 men, Democrats and 
Republicans both, in the historj' of this country ever did 
harder, more tedious, or more fatiguing work than the 18 
members of the Ways and Means Committee did in these 
hearings. 

" Think of it! We began at half-past 9 in the morning 
and worked until 1 o'clock, took an hour for lunch, then 
worked until 7 o'clock, taking an hour for dinner, as we 
call it in the city and supper in the country, and worked 
until 11 and 12 o'clock at night; keyed up, on edge, tus- 
sling with intellectual men who had facts in their pos- 
session about the tariff which they were determined not 
to give up, while we were determined that they should 
stand and deliver. 

" The chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Payne], is nearly old 
enough to be my father. I have always been credited 
with having an iron constitution, but I believe that he 
came out of the exhausting work fresher than I did, which 
was an absolute marvel to me. 

" One other thing about that committee. In my time I 
have done many things to earn a living, among them 
every species of farm work, clerking in a country store, 
teaching in all sorts of schools, from a log-cabin school- 



[29] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

house in Kentucky to the presidency of a college in West 
Virginia, editing a newspaper, and practicing law. For 
three days I was a sort of a special deputy sheriff in Cin- 
cinnati, guarding a defaulter. I have ti-ied a multitude 
of cases in court, including betwixt 1,000 and 2,000 
criminal cases, ranging from murder and highway rob- 
bei'y to assault and battery and petty larceny; but no- 
where, at no time, under no circumstances have I ever 
performed any other labor so exhaustive of nervous 
energy as I performed at these tariff hearings. I am not 
complaining. We simply did our duty; but I have no 
doubt that it shortened all our lives. We not only worked 
like galley slaves while other people were taking their 
ease, but we tried to ascertain the truth." 

These were my honest sentiments in March, 1909. They 
are my sentiments in February, 1915. They will remain 
my sentiments so long as I liv.e. I can not improve on 
them now. 

There is little to add, except one incident demonstrat- 
ing how we sometimes misjudge each other. Everybody 
knew that Mr. Payne was a man of ability and a strong 
debater. Those of us who had opportunity to study him 
closely knew that he possessed a vast store of information, 
particularly on the tariff. No wonder, for he was a stu- 
dent and participated in five revisions of the tariff. In 
debate he was irritable and brusque to such an extent 
that he frequently hurt the feelings of Members who in- 
teiTupted him in his speeches. I did not like the way in 
which he sawed me off on several occasions and for a long 
time had it in my heart to catch him in the right situation 
and assail him hip and thigh. 

Finally, however, I was placed on the Committee on 
Ways and Means, of which he was chairman. During the 
Christmas holidays succeeding I was in New England and 
New York on a lecture tour. When I entered a parlor car 
in New York, en route to Washington, I had Mr. Payne 

[30] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 

as a fellow passenger. He came and sat down by me and 
gave me a cordial welcome to his committee. He talked 
to me all the way here, and as I had never talked with him 
10 minutes privately before that trip, I was amazed to 
discover that he was a most pleasant gentleman, an un- 
usually fine raconteur, and that his stock of personal and 
interesting reminiscences seemed inexhaustible. He 
spoke most entertainingly of Thurlow Weed, William H. 
Seward, Horace Greeley, Horatio Seymour, Gov. Morgan, 
Roscoe Conkling, Samuel Sullivan Cox, Heni-y J. Ray- 
mond, and other New Yoi}k worthies of a past generation. 
Those five hours were not only delightful, but also in- 
structive to me and added much to the sum total of my 
historical knowledge. That trip laid the foundation of a 
close personal friendship between Mr. Payne and myself, 
which grew stronger and more tender with the passing 
years till the day of his death. He was the most dis- 
tinguished Member of the House to die in harness, as no 
doubt he wished to die, after the death of Gov. Dingley, 
his immediate predecessor as chairman of the great Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means. The House decreed him a 
public funeral, as was eminently proper, and we mourn- 
fully parted company with the honored and well-beloved 
" Father of the House." 



[31] 



Address of Mr. Mann, of Illinois 

Mr. Speaker: The generous tribute which has just been 
paid to Mr. Payne by the distinguished and beloved 
Speaker of this House is characteristic of the gentleman 
from Missouri, the Speaker, and also, I am pleased to 
think, is characteristic of American politics. 

The Republicans of this House and elsewhere also 
deeply appreciate the courtesy and respect which was 
paid to the memory of Mr. Payne by the Democratic 
majority in this House in according to him a public 
funeral and exercises held in this Chamber while the 
House itself was in session. I think that had not occurred 
before the funeral services of Mr. Payne's predecessor as 
chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr.Dingley. 

It is not my intention, Mr. Speaker, to dwell upon the 
public services of Mr. Payne. They are written in the 
legislative pages of this body, as well as in the five tariff 
bills which were enacted while he was a member of the 
Ways and Means Committee. Three of these tariff bills 
were Republican bills, in which he was one of the men 
who framed the bill. Two of them were Democratic 
tariff bills, in which he actively participated in opposition. 

I came into this House at the special session when the 
Dingley tariff bill was passed. Coming from a great city 
with many industries affected by the tai'iff legislation, it 
became my duty to frequently ask questions, privately, 
of the members of the Ways and Means Committee. I 
know, as everybody knows, that Mr. Payne when he was 
very busily engaged in work sometimes was rather 
brusque in manner, but it became my habit when I 
wanted to know anything about that bill to go to Mr. 
Payne. He was always courteous to me, was always 

[32] 



Address of Mr. Mann, of Illinois 



able to give the information asked for, and I became 
rather deeply attached to him from a distance. I did not 
enjoy his close personal friendship. For years I used to 
watch Mr. Payne and Mr. Dalzell as they would leave the 
House and go to luncheon together. They were both high 
up on the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Payne for a 
series of years chairman of the committee. The close 
friendship between the two was remarkable. Both were 
very active in the House and both very attentive to their 
duties in the House. They frequently went to luncheon 
together, sometimes taking somebody else with them. 
These, of course, are purely side lights upon his character. 
When I became the Republican leader in the House in 
the last Congress, knowing as I did that much of the feel- 
ing toward the Payne bill and also toward Mr. Payne 
throughout the countiy was unjustified, in so far as his 
personal desires were concerned, I gave especial atten- 
tion to the consulting of Mr. Payne, and very early learned 
that no one could have a better adviser as to the use of 
common sense than Mr. Payne. During the last two sum- 
mers the House remained in session during the entire 
summer. It became the habit of Mr. Payne and myself 
and some others, whenever the opportunity afforded, to 
take a little fresh air on the outside and forget the cares 
of state by going to the ball game. Mr. Payne, strange to 
say, with all of his enthusiasm for work, with his great 
knowledge and study relating to legislative matters, with 
his solemn tones in debate, was a lover of decent outdoor 
sports and was veiy fond of baseball. As we sat to- 
gether in the front row of seats in this Chamber during 
the consideration of the Underwood tariff bill, every day 
while there was a ball game in progress in the city of 
Washington, and usually anywhere else, in the midst of 
strong and sometimes somewhat bitter partisan debate on 
items in the tariff bill, the telephone clerk on the Republi- 
can side of the House would quietly drop down a number 

4094° — 16 3 [33] 



Memorial Addresses: PIepresentative Payne 

of times during the debate and inform Mr. Payne how 
the score stood. Mr. Speaker, that is what makes men 
men. That is characteristic of great men. He enjoyed the 
flight while the people on the outside were enjoying life. 
He liked to have other people happy, and when he was 
with them personalty, in personal conversation, there was 
no man more delightful, more good-tempered, more en- 
tertaining than was Mr. Paitsie. His name will live in the 
historj' of legislation, but to those who knew him best he 
will live in their memory as a sweet-tempered, whole- 
some, and enjoyable character. 



[34] 



Address of Mr. Goulden, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: It was my privilege to serve with our late 
associate, Sereno Elisha Payne, who was unexpectedly 
called to his rew ard in December last. Coming from the 
same State and for many years a trustee of the Soldiers 
and Sailors Home, at Bath, N. Y., near his home, and 
meeting many of his friends and constituents there, I 
learned much regarding his home life. As a friend and 
neighbor, he was ever true and helpful; as a citizen, ever 
loyal and patriotic. 

He faithfully served his district in Congress for 30 
years, ever mindful, not alone of his devoted people 
whom he loved, but of the interests of those of the State 
and Nation. His services to the good people of Auburn 
and of Cayuga County as district attorney, citj' clerk, and 
president of the board of education, with that of a Mem- 
ber of Congress, in all of which he showed a high pur- 
pose, a civic pride, and a faithful devotion to duty, 
endeared him to his home people. That is the best test 
of work well done and of high moral worth; of his 
splendid services here, the country is familiar. No man 
stood higher in the esteem of his associates than did 
Sereno E. Payne. For 10 years of my service here he was 
the able, vigilant, courteous majority leader. While he 
dealt our side hard blows frequently, he was always a 
gentleman, always kindly hearted and willing to respect 
the rights and opinions of others. 

Of him it will be said, " None knew him but to love 
him." The day of his untimely death I sat by his side 
talking about old friends that had passed away. He 
seemed in his usual good health, cheerful and smiling. 

In praising him for the work accomplished in this 
House, and congratulating the country upon his achieve- 
ments, we are forced to lament his taking off at a time 

[35] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

when he could be of so much more value. We can mourn 
for him with the same feeling that we mourn the loss of 
Lincoln before he had given to his country all of which he 
was capable. 

We applaud the man and his work to-day while sadly 
lamenting his loss to us. We are met to pay a last tribute 
of honor and respect to a beloved fellow worker whose 
character we admired and whose rugged honesty was 
inspiring. 

His death has left a void that can not be filled, and his 
deeds, his kindness, and loving, cheerful disposition will 
ever live in the minds of his friends and associates. Well 
may we exclaim : 

Shall I say that what heaven gave 

Earth has taken? 
Or that sleepers in the grave 

Reawaken? 
One sole sentence can I know, 

Can I say: 
You, my comrade, had to go, 

I to stay. 



[36] 



Address of Mr. Austin, of Tennessee 

Mr. Speaker: We have met to-day to pay a willing 
tribute to a great leader, a worthy son of the great 
Empire State, and a wise, just, and patriotic American, 
the Hon. Sereno E. Payne, who died at his post of 
duty after 30 years of faithful and efficient service in this 
House. That his record was above criticism and reproach 
is attested by his unfailing success in 16 elections in a 
district made up of a sturdy, conservative, and highly 
intellectual constituency. 

His life was full of useful activities, and for more than 
a quarter of a century he had a prominent part in writing 
many of our wisest and best laws; his good deeds as a 
citizen and public servant were countless. No man in this 
House, composed of a membership of 435, and coming 
from every State and Territory, and our islands in the 
distant seas, has a record which excels that of our de- 
parted friend and colleague. He was a prominent figure 
in the Republican national conventions which nominated 
three of our greatest Presidents — McKinley, Roosevelt, 
and Taft — and an active and influential leader in framing 
and passing the many useful, progressive, and patriotic 
laws during their administrations. As a Member of this 
House he played a conspicuous part in the preparation 
and enactment of the three great tariff laws which bore 
the names of McKinley, Dingley, and Payne. If you will 
impartially studj^ the history of our country during the 
life of these great measures, you will proclaim the most 
marvelous commercial growth and development of our 
country — not one section of it, but North, South, East, and 
West, ever\' State, Territory, city, village, farm, and home. 
The prosperity and happiness was in evidence on every 



[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

hand and in every nook and corner of the Republic. The 
wonderful strides in every line of industry, of every 
human endeavor, the matchless progress of this gi-eat 
Republic in foreign and domestic trade, in population, 
wealth, greatness, and glory; in all things that go to make 
us a great and envied people, fell to our happy lot during 
the period covered by the administrations of Presidents 
McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft, and under the operation of 
tariff legislation in which Mr. Payne had an important 
part in creating. The men he aided in nominating and 
electing to the Presidency, and the laws he materially 
assisted in making, gave to the American Republic its 
happy, golden epoch, and showered upon its people 
countless blessings. More opportunities, more content- 
ment, more progress, more prosperitj', and more happi- 
ness crowded into this period of our country's history 
than can be named to the credit of any tariff legislation 
in the entire history of our country. 

What a debt we owe as a people ; what a debt due from 
our Nation to the grand old man whose memory we honor 
on this occasion. No words, no tongue, can truly tell the 
lasting obligation we owe to our late colleague. He led a 
life filled with usefulness, not alone to his faithful and 
devoted constituents, but to the country at large. 

Mr. Speaker, the great Empire State has furnished a 
long line of able, useful, and distinguished men to the 
American Republic, in peace and in war, and the im- 
partial historian in giving their names and recounting 
their great, useful, and patriotic deeds will place high on 
the list the name and fame of Sereno E. Payne. He was 
faithfulness itself in his attendance as a Member of this 
House; in his committee and departmental work; in 
caring for his correspondence, for the interests of his im- 
mediate constituents; nothing of an official nature, great 
or small, escaped his attention. There was never a more 
worthy, zealous, industrious, hard-working Member. He 

[38] 



Address of Mr. Austin, of Tennessee 

left a faithful and illustrious record which should in- 
fluence and inspire all of us. It would be to our credit 
and the benefit of those we represent if we would, in the 
discharge of our duties, follow the splendid example he 
left behind. 

I saw much of Mr. Payne during the past six years in 
this House, and for a portion of the time we lived under 
the same roof. We almost daily, during the past two 
years, occupied adjoining seats in the front row on the 
Republican side of the Chamber. My admiration, in- 
terest, and fondness for him was ever increasing, and 
his sudden death was a painful shock and great loss to 
me. He was a kind, genial, whole-souled, companionable 
man, and though a leading statesman and great leader he 
was plain and unassuming. 

As an admiring friend, as a Representative from a 
southern district which for 60 consecutive years has sent 
a protectionist to this body, I offer my simple but sincere 
tribute of respect, admiration, and esteem for our able, 
worthy colleague, for New York's honored son, for the 
Nation's invincible champion, and defender of the Ameri- 
can protective system, who I rejoice to know lived to see 
his great life work — the Payne tariff law — approved and 
vindicated in the hearts and thoughts of the American 
people. 



[39] 



Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan 

Mr. Speaker : The night of December 10, 1914, Sereno E. 
Payne was found dead in his room with the open Bible 
beside him. " The gentleman's time had expired." 

The personality, which for 71 years had borne and 
honored the name of Sereno E. Payne, had gone into the 
region where we dimly suppose character is the only 
means of identification. 

Tariff questiohs, of which he was one of the most pro- 
found and practical students of his time, no longer con- 
cerned him. " Life's candle had burned out." 

He had carried with him on his journey down to the 
very instant of transition the only guide vouchsafed 
humanity on earth. 

All the honors which the years had brought to him and 
all the malice of political misrepresentation were as noth- 
ing to him as he sat there quietly in the austerity of death, 
with dead eyes looking into the mystery of eternity just 
revealed to him. 

A little later his body lay in state in the Hall of the 
House of Representatives, with a jungle of flowers around 
it, where the temporary occupants of places of dignity had 
gathered to do him honor, but to Payne these things were 
as nothing. 

Here he had gained his greatest triumphs, here he had 
undergone his discipline, here he had gained his reputa- 
tion, and here his body lay in state for a little time on 
its journey to the grave. 

He was a lawyer and had gained eminence in his pro- 
fession. 

He was a statesman and had been honored time and 
again by the party with which he was associated. 

[401 



Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan 



He first came to Congress in 1883 and served contin- 
uously, except during the Fiftieth Congress, until his 
death. 

He was chairman of the Committee on Merchant Marine 
and Fisheries from 1895 to 1899, and in that position 
rendered valuable service; but his chief work in Congress 
was in connection with the tariff. 

He went upon the Ways and Means Committee in 1890, 
served there until his death, and was its chairman from 
1899 until 1910, when the House became Democratic. 

His was the longest chairmanship of the Ways and 
Means Committee in the history of the country, and his 
the longest membership of that committee. 

He helped to frame the McKinley law of 1890. 

As a minority member of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee he opposed the Wilson law of 1894. 

He was senior member of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee when the Dingley law of 1897 was enacted. 

He was the chairman of the committee which framed 
the Payne-Aldrich law of 1909 and ranking minority 
member of the committee which reported the law of 1913. 

He helped to frame the war-revenue act of 1898, and, as 
chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, helped 
to frame the Porto Rican tariff law of 1900, the Philippine 
tariff law of 1902, its revision in 1908, and the Cuban 
reciprocity law of 1903. 

"At all times a man who will do faithfully needs to 
believe firmly." Mi". Payne had convictions. 

His services ran through an era of change the magni- 
tude of which was not perceived by those who were a part 
of it. He lived in an age in which the accumulated science 
of the past was constantly applied to improved means of 
production, manufacture, transportation, and exchange. 

In the performance of his duties he helped to give shape 
to national policies in an era of geographical and trade 
expansion, in which men combined their capital to pro- 

[41] 



Memorial Addresses: REPRESENTATrvE Pa"\tsie 

duce at central points commodities to supply increasing 
areas of trade created by increasing facilities of trans- 
portation and communication. This movement was not 
confined to America, but extended throughout the com- 
mercial world. 

The era of his legislative services was a part of a world- 
wide adjustment to the rapidly increasing use of steam, 
supplemented by electricity, the rapidly increasing use of 
machinery', and the rapidly increasing adaptation of the 
corporate form of management to industrial enterprises. 

In his public service he was a practical, working, con- 
structive personality in a tariff world. 

He helped to put in legislative form the tariff policies of 
a party, based upon its conviction that it is better for us to 
keep our own capital and labor employed than it is to 
keep the capital and labor of foreign nations employed; 
that it is better for us to keep our money in use and cir- 
culation among ourselves than to send it abroad in ex- 
change for commodities which we can make and produce 
as well as foreigners; that it is better to maintain the 
standard of American citizenship by protection of Ameri- 
can labor and American industry than it is to lower the 
level of American citizenship by lowering the wages of 
American labor. 

He had seen the country pass from the simple to the 
complex. 

In the language of Goldwin Smith, he had " seen the 
collapse of many a political waterspout and the ebb of 
many a political tide." 

There was nothing sensational about Mr. Payne. He 
never posed. He was incapable of posing. He never ad- 
vertised. He had no press agent. He did his work. 

He was brave, honest, robust, unpretentious, truthful. 
His eloquence was the eloquence of logic and of facts ably 
stated. 



[42 



Address of Mr. Hamilton, of Michigan 

As Cromwell is reported to have said : " If the words 
were true words, they could be left to shift for them- 
selves." He feared God and was without any other fear. 

It is a saying of Guizot that " one must have been of 
great worth indeed to deserve not to be forgotten," and 
the name of Sereno E. Paatve is indelibly written into the 
history of our countn' among the names of its practical 
patriots. 



[43] 



Address of Mr. Underhill, of New York 

Mr. Speaker : I would feel that I had failed to perform 
a duty that I owe to the memory of our dear friend, 
Sereno Elisha Payne, were I not to add a brief tribute 
to his memory. 

Residing in the adjoining congressional district, and 
being whole-souled, generous, and earnest in his nature, 
he could not fail to have friends in all the counties near 
where he lived, and consequently he was invited and. on 
several occasions accepted invitations to advocate the 
cause of his party in my home town years before I met 
him in this Hall. My early recollections of him are of the 
pleasantest character. Genial in temperament, he was a 
delightful man to meet, and evidently enjoyed becoming 
acquainted with young men. 

His popularity with the people is indicated by the long 
succession of honors in his career. He received prefer- 
ment in his home city and county before he came to Con- 
gress, more than 30 years ago, and no matter what the 
issue was against his party, his personal strength and 
popularity were always sufficient to insure his return to 
Congress. Here he advanced steadily in influence until 
he became the chairman of the most influential committee 
in the House, the great Ways and Means Committee, 
showing that his merit was duly appreciated and that his 
ability was recognized. 

While Mr. Payne was a partisan, he was honest in» the 
discharging of his duties, as was evident in the framing 
of the great tariff bill which bore his name. It is but fair 
to state that the bill, as written by him, was a far fairer 
measure than it was when it became law, and that the 
changes made in it were generally contrary to his wishes 

and against his protest. 

[44] 



Address of Mr. Underbill, of New York 



His death has removed one of our ablest and most 
popular Members, and in his death Congress and the 
country have sustained a severe loss. 

It fell to my sad lot to be one of the congressional party 
that journeyed to Auburn to attend his funeral. The 
ceremonies were held in the Baptist Church where he had 
worshiped when at home throughout his entire life. They 
were simple, beautiful, and impressive, and everybody 
who was present on that occasion must have been im- 
pressed with the belief that Sereno Elisha Payne through- 
out his life had tried to live according to the Divine 
command. 

The loss of such a man is of great consequence to any 
country. Never in the history of our country have we 
needed Christian statesmen more than to-day, men who 
fear God and walk with him, as our former colleague did. 
In these days when men often rush madly after wealth, 
position, and power, God is too often forgotten. It can be 
truthfully said of our departed friend for whom these 
memorial eulogies are offered that he was a Christian 
statesman. His departure is sincerely mourned as a na- 
tional loss, and among those who associated with him and 
those who knew him best his memory will be cherished 
as a loyal and delightful friend, a congenial associate, a 
patriotic and devoted servant to his people, and a lover 
of his country. 

Death came to him without warning. 

He so lived that when his summons came to join 

The innumerable caravan which moves 

To that mysterious realm where each shall take 

His chamber in the silent halls of death, 

He went not like the quarry-slave at night. 

Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 

By an unfaltering trust. 



[45] 



Address of Mr. Fordney, of Michigan 

Mr. Speaker: We meet to-day in memor}'^ of a man 
whose life was spent in bestowing on his fellow country- 
men the blessings of opportunity. He believed the great- 
est good that can be done to a healthy man is to give him 
a chance to earn his living and the greatest calamity that 
can befall him is to take from him his opportunity for 
daily work. With this idea ever in mind, he was able to 
crj'stallize it into laws that brought happiness to millions 
of Americans. 

Length of service in this House is a conspicuous honor 
achieved by few, and never except by deserving it. And 
on all the bright roll of famous American Representatives 
it is hard to find a name that shines with greater luster 
than that of Sereno E. Payne. He had within him a re- 
markable combination of fitting qualities that a discern- 
ing constituency were fortunate enough to recognize. The 
people of Mr. Payne's district in electing him to a genera- 
tion of membership here did a service to the country 
which is beyond human power to calculate, for they gave 
a great man the rare opportunity to carry to full fruition 
the results of broad constructive statesmanship. The 
present Speaker of the House gave him nothing more 
than just recognition when, on March 24, 1909, he said 
that Mr. Payne had become a great historical personage, 
and that — 

The history of the United States can not be written now and 
leave out the name of Sereno E. Payne, of New York. He takes 
his place in the company of Henry Clay, Robert J. Walker, Justin 
S. Morrill, William McKinley, William L. Wilson, and Nelson 
Dingley, as father of a great tariff bill, which must be referred to 
as long as men discuss the tariff in the United States, which, 
judging the future by the past, will be until Gabriel blows his 
trumpet. 

[46] 



Address of Mr. Fordney, of Michigan 



It is not difficult to see why Mr. Payne achieved this 
proud eminence. He never for a moment forgot the one 
great, central, overwhelming fact that this countiy can he 
happy and prosperous only by giving steady employment 
to its people at ample compensation. He knew, always, 
that it is folly to tiy to buy too cheaply if thereby an 
American is deprived of employment. His great mind 
was like a beacon light, forever warning of the hidden 
rocks that lie beneath the frothy breakers of free trade. 
He knew the disaster that always comes to a countiy when 
it takes bread from the mouth of labor at home by trying 
to buy abroad for less than free and manly labor is en- 
titled to receive. To this basic principle of protecting 
American manhood in the right to earn a living he ap- 
plied the resources of his luminous mind and wonderful 
memory. He served his tariff apprenticeship under 
Thomas B. Reed, William McKinley, and Nelson Dingley. 
He saw the ruin wrought by the visionary pilotage of 
William L. Wilson, when the industrial progress of this 
country suffered a head-on collision with bankruptcy, 
poverty, and starvation. He saw the values of railroad 
stocks shrink from par to 12 cents on the dollar, and the 
armies of the destitute recruited to millions of men as the 
result of bad tariff legislation. He saw the revenues of 
the Government fail and the Treasui-y balance shrink to a 
deficit because of the theorizing folly of those who guided 
the legislation of this Nation. 

Then he saw that army of hunger drive from power in 
this Capitol the enemies of prosperous employment, and 
he saw those hosts of misery change to millions of con- 
tented, hopeful, happy workers. He saw those depleted 
properties prosper once more till their stocks rose again 
to par. He saw the Treasury of the Nation filled again, 
and confidence shed its sunshine over all the land. 

And then, with the years of plenty, he saw the old men 
who knew these things pass away and young men arise 

[47] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

who dreamed of power and who beheld rainbows in the 
clouds. He saw his party torn asunder in the eifort to 
present to the countrj^ two Presidents at once, and he saw 
the dreamers again hold high place. Thus it was given to 
him to witness, in his own legislative career, a complete 
cycle, from the industrial destruction wrought in 1892-93 
to the industrial stagnation and depression in 1913-14. 
And he was the only Member of the House of Representa- 
tives who survived the vicissitudes of those changing 
times. Of those Members who voted for the McKinley 
bill in this House in 1890, Mr. Payne alone remained to 
vote against the Underwood bill in 1913. 

Mr. Payne's devotion to the principles of protection was 
the foremost fact of his legislative career. His knowledge 
of the details of the subject was amazing. How vast that 
knowledge was, and how untiring his industry, no one can 
fully realize, except those of us who had the privilege of 
serving with him on the great Committee on Ways and 
Means. He also knew much about many other subjects, 
but he did not talk a great deal. His greatest speeches 
were five in number — on the McKinley, Wilson, Dingley, 
Payne, and Underwood bills, respectively. If everj^ other 
speech ever made in Congress on the tariff should be lost, 
those five speeches by Mr. Payne would enable the states- 
men of the future to trace the tariff histoiy of the United 
States, and the principles laid down by him would un- 
erringly point the way to individual and national pros- 
perity. He was not a polished orator in the rhetorical 
sense, but he had a remarkably direct and forcible way 
of stating things. He went directly to the heart of his 
subject, and so commanded instant attention. Thus, he 
began his speech on the Dingley bill, on March 23, 1897, 
as follows : 

Mr. Chairman, that we need more revenue would seem to be so 
self-evident a proposition that no man who has by accident or 
design been elected to a seat in Congress would dare deny it. If 

[48] 



Address of Mr. Fordney, of Michigan 

the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. De Armond], who has just 
taken his seat, or my colleague upon the committee from Ten- 
nessee [Mr. McMillin] would take pains some evening to consult 
the proprietor of the corner grocery store in the little villages in 
which they live, they would find that experience had taught this 
man in business that even a small groceryman, running his busi- 
ness for four years by borrowing at the end of each year sufficient 
capital to keep his head above water, could not forever continue 
in that condition of borrowing. 

And as I have been reading that speech, delivered 
nearly 18 years ago, it has seemed to me, Mr. Speaker, that 
it must have been written to apply to the conditions that 
exist to-day. I can not forbear to read one more brief 
extract. Listen : 

For some reasons, I could never exactly understand why, the 
people desired and obtained a change. They said it made no 
difference about the House of Representatives if it did go Demo- 
cratic; that the Senate would stand a bulwark against any tariff 
tinkering by the incoming administration. They were careless, 
and bitterly have they repented that carelessness in sackcloth and 
ashes since that fateful day. We had a Democrat in the White 
House; we had a Democratic House of Representatives, and finally, 
on the 4th of March, 1893, it was determined that we had a Demo- 
cratic majority at the other end of this Capitol. 

Confidence forsook the people. Business men began to pale 
before the prospect of that administration. Manufacturers dare 
not make their stock of goods for the succeeding market, and 
wage earners found that their employment and wages were un- 
certain under the new order of things. There was a prospect of 
lower duties; there was a prospect that if merchants could hold 
off their importations they might get them into the country at a 
less rate of duty. Importations ceased. Buying ceased, and under 
the influence of that administration, which was coming in like a 
black cloud over the industries of this country, they succeeded 
in cutting down the income under the McKinley bill so that for 
the year ending June 30, 1894, there was a deficiency of 
$69,000,000 in the revenue. 

Tvi^elve years to a day after that speech was delivered, 
Mr. Payne completed the most remarkable oratorical 

4094°— IG 4 [49] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

effort that any of us has ever heard in this House, when, 
in a speech nine and one-half hours long, he explained in 
detail the Payne "tariff bill, and answered freely every 
question put to him by every Member of the House, until 
all had asked him what they pleased. It was this exhibi- 
tion of mental and physical vigor that led Mr. Speaker 
Clark to say : 

There is another thing on which I congratulate the chairman 
of the Committee on Ways and Means, and I do it as honestly as 
I did the other, that during the course of these hearings and by 
his nine and one-half hours' speech lie had knocked higher than 
a kite the idiotic theory of Dr. Osier. 

Mr. Payne was a delegate to six national Republican 
conventions, and in 1912 made an appeal for harmony 
and obedience to convention law which, if it had been 
heeded, would have prevented the split that elected Mr. 
Wilson. 

Mr. Speaker, time will not permit reference to the many 
incidents that crowd the memory of the older Members 
of the House, which remind us of the wisdom, the kind- 
liness, the ever-present sense of humor that characterized 
our beloved friend, whose greatness we are only begin- 
ning to realize. 

One of the greatest poets of antiquity boasted, truth- 
fully, that he had by his own words put forth a monu- 
ment more enduring than brass and higher than the 
Pyramids. The public utterances of Mr. Payne, preserved 
in our Record, form a monument to his memory, the 
magnificence of which will be recognized by our descend- 
ants when countless years have flown. 



[50] 



Address of Mr. Mott, of New York 

Mr. Speaker : There are special personal i easons why I 
should have a few words of trihutc to pay to the memory 
of Sereno E. Payne. Mr. Payne represented my home 
county of Oswego in the Forty-ninth Congx-ess, and again 
in the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses, after which 
a new apportionment was made. During that time he in- 
troduced several bills of local interest to my townsmen. 
Mr. Payne told my small son, when he met him last 
spring, that he was the fifth generation of my family he 
had known. He had not been in my home city of Oswego 
for 25 years until Thanksgiving eve, only a few days be- 
fore his death, when he addressed those gathered at a 
Republican dinner in what proved to be his last public 
speech. 

For the last year or two of his congressional career Mr. 
Payne was known as the " father of the House," being the 
oldest member here in point of service. But his few 
Republican colleagues from the State of New York liked 
to regard him more intimately as the father of our delega- 
tion. We did not merely call him that, but we treated him 
as such, and he was very good to us. If we had troubles 
of any sort or difficult problems to solve we took them to 
Mr. Payne, who was always ready to listen and to give a 
kindly word. Relieved of the great responsibility he had 
been carrying as chairman of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee, he found time to enjoy things he had not had time 
for before. We had many meetings of one sort or an- 
other, and my visits with Mr. Payne will ever remain 
among the most precious memories of my stay here. 

Sereno E. Payne was a busy man during all his stay in 
Congress. He never spoke unless he had something to 
say, yet the records show that he made over a thousand 

[51] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

speeches in the House. He began his committee service 
on two inconspicuous committees, but for the last 20 years 
he served on the Committee on Ways and Means, and for 
12 years he was its cliairman. In tliis position he gave liis 
name to a great tariff bill, not only because he was chair- 
man, but because he really did the work of writing the bill 
as it passed the House. When he talked to the House 
about the tariff, he did not need a note or a written speech. 
He had all the facts in his wonderful mind ready to use 
as was necessary. He was the Republican floor leader 
under three Presidents — McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft — 
and did valiant service for our party in that capacity. 
Only four daj^s before his own death he announced on the 
floor the death of our colleague, Representative Merritt, 
and on the vei-y day he passed away he spoke briefly on 
the schools of Washington. Truly it can be said of him 
that he died as he would have wished — in the harness and 
serving the country until the verj' last hours. 

Sereno E. Payne was a keen partisan. He believed in 
parties and in party government. He believed in his own 
party, and his best thoughts were for its advancement. 
The great men of the party for years past were his inti- 
mate friends, and he was repeatedly honored in its coun- 
cils. State and National. For many years the State plat- 
forms of the Republican Party in New York were largely 
written by him, and in 1908 he was chairman of the com- 
mittee on resolutions at the national Republican con- 
vention. 

While it was as an expert on the tariff' and allied 
questions that Mr. Payne was best known throughout the 
country, a study of the bills introduced by him shows his 
interest and activity in many other questions. He was 
the author of the Spanish-American War revenue act. 
Many years ago he introduced a bill for the American 
registry of foreign-built vessels owned by Americans, 
similar to that passed last summer. He was the author of 

[52] 



Address of Mr. Mott, of New York 



a number of other bills relating to our merchant marine, 
and the local needs of his district received liis constant 
attention. For many years he gave unsparingly of his 
time, not only during the sessions of Congress but in the 
recesses as well, to the tariff, and it was as a result of this 
great labor that he was able to become, perhaps, the 
greatest authority on this question in Congress. 

Sereno E. Paat^e was a splendid example of the kind of 
men we need in American public life. He performed his 
duties unflinchingly. He did not care for what has come 
too frequently to be regarded as associated with our office- 
holders — literary bureaus, political agencies, and the many 
other helps — which so many deem necessary for the obtain- 
ing of applause and favor from the public. These were un- 
known to him; yet his district and his colleagues in the 
House of Representatives continued to honor and revere 
him for 30 years. He believed in organization, but he did 
not need help from any organization to hold his office. 
If he had personal ambitions, he was never willing to 
compromise or temporize to attain them. He did not 
know how to associate personal gain with the holding of 
public office. He won his fights because he led them 
armed with personal honesty, unswerving devotion to 
principle, and unremitting adherence to what he deemed 
the best interests of the country. 

The great leaders in the House of Representatives, of 
all parties, who served with Mr. Payne on the Committee 
on Ways and Means and so grew to know him intimately, 
can best testify as to the value of his services to the 
country. They had almost daily opportunity to see the 
evidences of his splendid mind and his thorough grasp 
of the many problems coming before that committee. 

Those of us from his own State and of his own party 
who have been closely associated with him in the present 
Congress bear witness as to his nobility of character, his 
loyalty and his devoted friendship, and to the kindly in- 

[53] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

terest he always took in the junior members of liis 
delegation. 

Although we shall miss his eloquent voice from this 
Hall and although his sympathetic heart will never beat 
again, his memory will remain with us for years to come 
and Sereno E. Payne will stand out as a type of the great 
men who have occupied seats in the House of Representa- 
tives and have played the most important part in its 
deliberations. He was not only honored and trusted to an 
unusual degree, but he was well beloved by all those who 
knew him. He had the dignity which goes with a lofty 
character, he had the sympathy which goes with an under- 
standing mind and a feeling heart. He had that abiding 
faith in the future of his country which goes with lofty 
patriotism. He kept the faith. 



[54] 



Address of Mr. Parker, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: On the 10th of last December there came 
to a close the long and useful life of Sereno E. Payne. 
It had been a life in which much had been accomplished, 
both for his generation and for his country, and it is most 
fitting that we, his companions and friends, should pause 
for a moment and paj' tribute to his most illustrious 
memory. 

I think I can say without fear of contradiction that Mr. 
Payne represented the highest type of American man- 
hood. A man of tremendous force of character and 
energy, combined with a love and capacity for hard work, 
he gave his life and his talents to his country with no ex- 
pectation of reward except the conscientious belief that 
he was bettering the conditions under which the great 
American people lived. 

He was an ardent partisan and a hard fighter, but recog- 
nized by friend and foe alike as a fair fighter. During his 
long years of service he had had to do with all the great 
constructive legislation of the last generation, and on ac- 
count of his great mental capacity and capabilities for 
hard work his mind was a veritable storehouse for ac- 
curate and intricate information on almost any legislative 
subject, but particularly as to legislation that referred to 
economic questions; and this information which he had 
been a lifetime acquiring was freely given to friend and 
foe alike. There are many men in this House on both 
sides of the aisle who felt that they could freely go to 
Mr. Payne and ask and receive information which other- 
wise it would have taken arduous labor to have acquired, 
and many times this information has been used against 
him on the floor in the argument of a party adversary. 

[55] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

I doubt if there is a man on the floor on either side of 
the aisle tliat did not feel that he had sustained a personal 
loss when Mr. PA\TstE went to his final reward. His life 
and accomplishments can well be taken as the example 
and guide of any young man who is about to enter public 
life, for, while a strong partisan, no one ever questioned 
his absolute honesty of conviction and his own great 
personal honesty and integrity. 

Personally he was a kindly and fatherly gentleman; 
one who was universally beloved by his colleagues in the 
New York State delegation, and especially so by the 
younger men whose counselor and guide he always was. 
He would spend hours refreshing his meniorj' to give 
accurate information to some of us younger men who 
lacked the experience and the knowledge to enable us to 
ascertain facts and figures, and he did it all with a cheer- 
fulness that won for him our highest esteem and affec- 
tion. We shall miss his cool, dispassionate judgment, his 
wise counsel, his unerring sagacity, and his vast informa- 
tion. His life is a valuable lesson to the boys of America. 
It illustrates fully that genius is the capacity for hard 
work. Brilliancy often discourages patient toil, while 
natural genius is ever a failure without eternal vigilance 
and constant effort. 



[56] 



Address of Mr. Platt, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: My acquaintance with Sereno E. Payne 
was of such comparatively short duration that I hesitate 
to speak of him in the presence of men who have known 
him long and intimately, many of whom have worked 
with him in the preparation of great measures anti have 
fought with him in great legislative and political battles. 
I had perhaps met him once or twice at conventions in 
the State of New York, but can hardly say that I knew 
him until this Sixty-third Congress met in special session 
in the spring of 1913. Mr. Payne was for years a friend 
of my father, and I naturally sought him for advice and 
counsel when I became a Member of this House, and dur- 
ing the long summer of 1913, when the House of Repre- 
sentatives was waiting upon the action of the Senate and 
few Members were in Washington, except members of the 
two or three committees concerned in the pending legisla- 
tion, I was much with him and came to feel toward him a 
strong affection. From his conversation, with its remi- 
niscences of men and of former legislative and political 
events of importance, 1 learned much that was invaluable. 
His mind was richly stored with information upon all 
public questions, and he was always kindly and patient 
and ready to answer the many inquiries of a novice like 
myself. 

Nothing impressed me more than Mr. Payne's high 
patriotism and devotion to principle. He was a man who 
voted on eveiy question that came before him as a Mem- 
ber of Congress in accordance with his own convictions. 
His example and his able and forceful expressions of the 
reasons for his convictions have been an invaluable tonic 
to the small minority' of Republican survivors in this Con- 

. [57] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

gress. To them, and especially to the Republicans of the 
New York delegation, the death of Sereno E. Payne was 
an irreparable loss, and the loss is felt only in less degree 
by men of other parties. 

The Sixty-third Congress is in very large degree a Con- 
gress of new men, and the new men naturally became 
acquainted with each other a little more easily and 
rapidly than with the men of longer service. As I began 
to know Mr. Payne well 1 became particularly interested 
in the expressions of opinion of the younger men about 
me. concerning him. There were men from the West, 
Progressives, Democrats, and even Republicans, who 
came into this Congress with the firm conviction that 
Sereno E. Payne was a "tool of the interests," an advocate 
of " special privilege," in league with the " malefactors of 
great wealth," and so forth, and they looked upon him 
with great suspicion. Mr. Payne had been grossly mis- 
represented in the heat of the campaign of 1912 bj' pub- 
lications and political orators, and it is extremely gratify- 
ing to know that he lived long enough to live down those 
misrepresentations among all who had an opportunity of 
knowing the man and of knowing the truth about him 
and about his work. Several of the younger Members 
whom I have mentioned told me long ago that they had 
completely changed their opinions when they came to 
know Ml'. Payne. Their feeling of suspicion soon broke 
down, and with further acquaintance they came to re- 
spect, to admire, and to love the grand old man who had 
endured undeserved abuse so patiently and so uncom- 
plainingly, preserving his serenity, with his readiness to 
serve undiminished. 

A well-known Democratic Member of this House, first 
elected to the Sixty-second Congress, told me recently that 
he knew full well that he would never have been elected 
to Congress if the Payne tariff bill had become a law as 
Mr. Payne and his colleagues prepared it and first passed 

[58] 



Address of Mr. Platt, of New York 



it through the House of Representatives. No one could 
fairly have questioned, he said, the fact that the original 
Payne bill was a full compliance with the Republican 
platform pledges of 1908. 

The State of New York has lost a great leader in the 
death of Mr. Payne. I doubt if the public men of the State 
have realized the full worth of his counsel and influence. 
His courageous advocacy of good men and good measures 
often turned the scale at conventions and conferences of 
great importance, and his was frequently the influence 
which really accomplished things for which other men 
received most of the credit. He looked to the accomplish- 
ment, to the service he could render, not to the applause. 



[59] 



Address of Mr. Fitzgerald, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: The House of Representatives suffered a 
distinct loss in the death of Sereno E. Payne. He was one 
of its most notable and distinguished Members. His fame 
rested upon substantial accomplishments. I am unable 
at this time to review with that detail which it deserves 
the career of Mr. Payne in the House. The demands of 
the short session upon me give no opportunity for the 
preparation of such a tribute as I should be honored to 
express. I can only hope to have recorded an expression 
of my sincere esteem and keen appreciation of a veiy 
dearly cherished friend. 

My service in the House began in the Fifty-sixth Con- 
gress. The death of Mr. Payne leaves me the sole survivor 
of the 34 Representatives who were elected from the State 
of New York in 1898. Even then, 16 years ago, he had 
attained an enviable prominence in public life. Inti- 
mately identified with the preparation of several tariff 
laws, he was justly regarded as one of the best-informed 
men in the United States upon the tariff question. 

He was a man of profound industry, of wide informa- 
tion, and of unquestioned integrity. His assiduous atten- 
tion to duty was well illustrated by his constant attend- 
ance during the sessions of the House. Only upon ex- 
ceedingly rare occasions was his striking figure missed 
from its accustomed place, and then only when ill health 
or imperative committee work prevented his attendance 
in the House. His example can be emulated with profit by 
many Members, and if universally adopted as the rule by 
Members of the House would tend veiy greatly to facili- 
tate the business of the House. 

Convinced that the principles of Government advocated 
by the political party with which he was identified were 

[60] 



Address of Mr. Fitzgerald, of New York 



most likely to advance the prosperity and the happiness 
of the people, he sturdily advocated his political beliefs. 
In such discussions he was the intense partisan that strong 
men of intense convictions must necessarily be. Ad- 
versity did not discourage him. His views were not 
altered by shifting majorities or changes of political 
sentiment. All the time he remained sturdy and unyield- 
ing as the oak, vigorously controverting all contentions 
which were not in harmony with his views. 

I am of those who believe that the country is better 
served by such sturdy partisans. Honest in convictions, 
with accumulated stores of valuable information, they 
eventually bring forth from the strife of intellect results 
that advance most the country's welfare. Seldom do 
permanent acquisitions of value result from the alert 
public man who is overeager to adapt his views to every 
passing popular whim or fancy. 

Mr. Payne was a modest and a lovable man. During 16 
years of association with him I came to know him in- 
timately and to cherish his friendship. His services to the 
country were distinguished and valuable. He had the 
respect of all men, the good will of opponents, the deep 
affection of his friends. His death deprives this House of 
the wisdom, the experience, the counsel of one of its most 
distinguished Members. He will linger long in the 
memory of many men who respected, admired, and loved 
him. 



[61] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 

Mr. Speaker : When I became a Member of this House 
in 1898 Mr. Payne had been designated as Speaker by 
Speaker Reed, and he administered the oath of office to 
me. Speaker Reed was not present on that day, as I was 
then informed, because he did not wish to attach his name 
as Speaker to the bill which admitted the Hawaiian 
Islands to the United States. Within one hour from the 
time Mr. Payne administered the oath to me the yeas and 
nays were ordered, and I voted for the admission of the 
Hawaiian Islands, and 1 have always considered it one 
of the best acts of my life. I was assigned by Speaker 
Reed to the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fish- 
eries, of which committee Mr. Payne was then chairman. 
I have been a member of that committee ever since that 
time. The committee were considering a ship-subsidy bill 
when I became a member, and I became very much inter- 
ested in the testimony presented in that interest. In the 
succeeding Congress a ship-subsidy bill was reported to 
the House, which passed this body subsequently, but it 
failed of passage in the Senate because of a filibuster 
similar to the one that is now meeting the project of a 
ship-purchase bill which originated with the President 
of the United States. 

I became somewhat familiar with Mr. Payne on account 
of being associated with him on the committee and be- 
cause we were nearly of the same age, and both of us 
had been lifelong Republicans. We talked matters over 
together very freely. In 1880 I was sent as a delegate to 
the Republican convention, which was one of the memor- 
able conventions, where the contest was between Grant 
and Rlaine and which finally resulted in the nomination 
and election of President Garfield. 

[62] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 

During the activities of that campaign there appeared 
in the opening to be some doubt as to wliether the 
Republican Party would be successful. The result of the 
campaign of 1876 was of such a complex character that 
the question of determining the result of the election was 
settled by the appointment of an electoral commission, 
and on account of the controversy resulting therefrom 
there seemed to be some grave doubt as to whether the 
Republican Party would be successful in that campaign; 
but a chance remark spoken by the Democratic candidate 
in the campaign, wherein he stated that the tariff was 
a local issue, made an entire change on the face of the 
situation. My own city, which never has cast a majority 
for any candidate except a Republican candidate, was at 
that time in a realm of doubt, but upon that expression of 
Gen. Hancock the Republicans thought if it were a local 
issue they would make it a local issue, with the result 
that my city gave a very handsome majority for President 
Garfield, and the tariff issue overshadowed all other ques- 
tions in the general issue of the campaign throughout the 
country. Mr. Payne and myself frequently spoke of the 
general result of that election, and of the vital issue that 
determined it. Neither of us believed that the tariff ques- 
tion would cease to be a controverted question between 
the contending political parties until long after our days 
on earth should be numbered. 

The only time in the life of the Republican Partj^ since 
1854 that the Democratic Party has ever been able to have 
a plurality in that great manufacturing city was in the 
campaign of 1912, when the Republican Party was 
divided. 

1 recall another time when Mr. Payne presided in this 
House. In February, 1899, there was a very severe snow- 
storm, the most severe that I had ever seen, although I 
had lived in the North all my life. There were about 50 
Members who came to the House that day, and I was one 

[63] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

of that number. I had an experience that I never had 
before. I froze both ears in that storm. 

Mr. Payne was elected Speaker for that day. Speaker 
Reed not being present. The means of conveyance for 
Members to come to the Capitol were very limited. Some 
Members came in tip carts, but I walked, a track having 
been broken by the street railroad company, although 
they could not move any cars. I watched Mr. Payne's 
career in this body with a great deal of interest. In the 
matter of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, as it is known, if 
Mr. Payne himself could have written that tariff bill ac- 
cording to his own ideas, it would have been a very much 
broader bill even than it was when he reported it to the 
House. After it passed from this House to the Senate 
many changes were made in that bill, which caused the 
principal diflficulties and misunderstandings which 
aroused severe opposition that the friends and believers 
in the bill could not seem to overcome. But I recollect 
particularly that Mr. Payne stated when presenting the 
bill to the House that it would be a great revenue pro- 
ducer, and he said also that it would be a means of open- 
ing up our foreign trade. Every word he had stated in 
his remarks before the House was fully verified by the 
results of the bill that was finally enacted into law, for 
we had the greatest development of our industries and 
the largest domestic trade under that bill, and the largest 
foreign trade, that has ever been recorded in the pages 
of history. 

In the lapse of time I became chairman of the Com- 
mittee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries of the 
House. I did not hold that position long, for the change 
in the political status of this House in 1910 caused me to 
be retired from the chairmanship; but I have still re- 
mained a member and have taken an active interest in 
the work of that committee, and I frequently conferred 
with Mr. Payne during this session of Congress in regard 

[64] 



Address of Mr. Greene, of Massachusetts 



to the ship-purchase bill that was reported out of the 
committee in September, 1914, and that still remains, 
safely reposing in the Committee on Rules of this House 
awaiting, I presume, action in the Senate. 

I never had written a minority report in opposition 
to any legislation in that committee until I wrote the 
minority report upon this shipping bill providing for 
Government ownership, for the reason that the gentleman 
who now presides over that committee, and who was 
associated with me during the time that I was chairman 
of that committee, Judge Alexander, of Missouri, had been 
so fair and open in all the work that he presented in the 
committee that I deemed it unwise to make factious op- 
position to any legislation that he thought was for the 
best interests of this House and of the countiy. 

My association with the Members of this House has 
been extremely pleasant. I have always been a strong 
believer in the policy of protection to American indus- 
tries, of which Mr. Payne was the ablest advocate. 

I was assigned by the Speaker to the sad duty as a 
member of the committee to attend the funeral and to 
pay the last tribute of respect to Mr. Payne at his home. 
When we left this city it was a very bleak day. There was 
a hard rainstorm, and it was very disagreeable indeed. 
When we arrived at his home city we found the ground 
covered with snow, the cold rather more extreme and 
severe than we had found it here. We were received by a 
committee of citizens, who demonstrated to us the affec- 
tion and esteem they bore to Mr. Payne in that dear old 
city where he lived, and where he had received so many 
honors during his long and honorable career. 

The schools on the day of his funeral were closed, as 
were also the business houses of the city, as a mark of 
respect to his gi-eat work and his active life among his 
people for so many years. I noticed Mr. Payne when 
he came into the House in December last year at the open- 

4004°— 16 5 [65] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

ing of this Congress and recognized that he seemed quite 
considerably changed, that lie did not have his usual 
vivacious appearance, and yet when he participated in 
debates he seemed to be full of vigor and was able to 
handle himself with great credit to himself and the mem- 
bership of this House. 

I was very glad to hear the present Speaker of this 
House repeat what he said after Mr. Payne had finished 
his remarks in presenting the Payne bill to this House in 
1909. It showed the broad spirit that the present Speaker 
has, and it was a very creditable tribute to the able and 
distinguished work that Mr. Payne did in the preparation 
of that bill and in the presentation of it to this House. I 
never have seen a bill of any character presented dui-ing 
my experience here that demonstrated such carefulness 
in its preparation, nor have I seen such a knowledge of 
all the material things contained in that great bill as was 
demonstrated by Mr. Payne during the nine and one-half 
hours that he occupied in laying out the beginning and 
continued to develop to the end of that great tariff bill. 

His name will go down in history as one of the great 
men of this country. His work will live and it will be ex- 
amined and used in the legislation which will yet be 
placed on the statute books when time and season shall 
bring about a change of policy of administration regard- 
ing the great questions of the tariff. 

I am glad to come here to-day to pay this tribute of re- 
spect, love, and veneration for this beloved man, who 
passed away so suddenly and who finished his work in 
this House, where his triumphs and successes had been 
the greatest. 



[66] 



Address of Mr. Mondell, of Wyoming 

Mr. Speaker: In the death of Mr. Payne the House 
mourns the loss of one of its oldest, ablest, and best be- 
loved Members; his family loses one whom they had 
every reason to love, respect, and honor; and the country 
one of its most useful, upright, and valuable citizens. 

It was my good fortune to know Mr. P.\yne well during 
my entire service in the House. He was one of those then 
in commanding position in the House I found kindly and 
considerate when I entered as a new Member, nearly 20 
years ago. 

The acquaintance then made ripened into a regard 
which increased, at least on my part, continuously with 
the passing of the years; for our late friend was a man 
who, above all things, wore well. The better one knew 
him the better one liked him and the more one appre- 
ciated his sterling qualities. 

Sereno E. Payne will be most widely and longest re- 
membered as the author of the Payne tariff bill, though 
his work in connection with that legislation was but a 
fragment of the great volume of his highly important, 
long-continued, and valuable service in the House. 

Our friend suffered the fate that seems the lot of most 
sponsors for tariff legislation. He lived to see the 
measure that bore his name criticized, misrepresented, 
and anathematized the country over; to become a veri- 
table football of politics in a time of extraordinary polit- 
ical upheaval and disruption. While all of this must 
have been very painful to him, he gave comparatively 
little outward sign of his regret and disappointment. 

The bill was not everything that Mr. Payne would have 
had it, as we well know. Things might have been very 
different had it been more nearly in accord with his 

[67] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

views. He was not, however, given to criticizing tliose 
whose views had differed from his own in the enactment 
of the legislation, and at no time seriously doubted the 
fundamental soundness of the measure. 

This is neither the time nor the place to discuss the 
merits or demerits of legislation; but I am sure that no 
one, whether they agreed with him or not, ever begrudged 
our departed friend the satisfaction that he felt, for a 
considerable time prior to his death, in what he believed 
to be a practical demonstration of the soundness of the 
bill which bore his name and of the unwisdom of its 

repeal. 

There are many of the finest products of nature that 
improve with age. In the main they are products that 
were always good, always wholesome, and time slowly, 
gradually, and almost imperceptibly enriches, mellows, 
and strengthens them. It pleases me to think that this de- 
sirable development which nature reserves for her best 
and rarest products was exemplified in the life and char- 
acter of our friend. We always knew him as honorable, 
upright, conscientious, able, loyal, and as the years passed 
there came to him, it seems to me, in increasing measure 
a kindly philosophy, which embraced all mankind, and a 
wider tolerance of the views and opinions of others, how- 
ever widely they differed from his own, than character- 
ized his earlier and more active years. 

There is a wide difference of opinion among men as to 
what constitutes the most desirable theater and setting 
for our last days on earth and our answer to the inevitable 
summons to another sphere of activity; but the better 
judgment of mankind seems most to incline to an ex- 
perience of usefulness and helpful activity until the hour 
of our departure shall strike, and to the hope of a peace- 
ful and painless passing into the shadows. 

From this vie\A'point of a desirable ending to a life of 
usefulness our late friend was most fortunate indeed in 

[68] 



Address of Mr. Mondell, of Wyoming 

the manner of his approach to and his passage through 
the portals. To the verj^ day of his death ho occupied his 
accustomed place in the halls of legislation, with a mind 
as clear and logical and a meniorj' as dependahle as ever; 
with a body free from any serious taint, malady, or weak- 
ness of age. Thus, without lingering pain or illness, with 
honors thick upon him, in the midst of useful labors, 
respected by all, loved by those who knew him best, a 
good man, a faithful citizen, a devout Christian, having 
lived more than the allotted span of life and set an ex- 
ample which we may all well emulate, he passed to his 
reward. 

Blessed are those whose ways are the ways of upright- 
ness, whose days are days of usefulness, and who, answer- 
ing the last summons, die in the Lord. Thus lived and 
thus died our friend. 



[69] 



Address of Mr. Parker, of New Jersey 

Mr. Speaker: I only wish to say a word or two as a 
personal tribute to a friend. I came back to Congress on 
the 7th of December, and on the 10th of December Mr. 
Payne passed away, djdng in harness and in the service 
of his country as truly as any soldier; and if it is sweet 
and fair to die for one's'country, his was that end. 

He was devoted to that service. Nothing turned him 
from it. We could say of him, as was said of another, 
that he was not greedy for gold or feverish for gain, but 
went about his work knowing that " man's honest will 
must heaven's good grace command." 

I had known him for 16 years. When I met him first 
he was in his prime, just over 50, buoyant in life, broad 
in mind, strong in courage, large in heart, what can be 
truly called a great and not a small man — great in every 
respect that makes a man. 

So he remained, as our fi'iend from Wyoming has just 
said, only mellowing with time into a kindliness that was 
felt by every Member of this House and that made them 
all his friends. 

There was a difference when I came back. He seemed 
to be thinking more of the past; he seemed always to have 
in his mind the touch of a vanished hand and the sound 
of a voice that is still, and wc did not so much lament 
when we found that he was gone where he could be happy 
once more. 

There is one trait of his character that has not been 
touched upon. We know that he was unselfish and de- 
voted. His self-abnegation in his devotion to duty was 
very marked. 

I really had forgotten, until I looked over the old 
records of the House, that he had been the senior mem- 

[70] 



Address of Mr. Parker, of New Jersey 

ber of the Committee on Ways and Means when his party 
came into power in 1895, and that he was not then made 
the chairman of that committee. But no man would liave 
found that out from anything that he said or did. His 
devoted friendship to that great man, Nelson Dingley, 
who was put at the head of that committee, was a mai-ked 
and wonderful thing in all of his service from that year 
down to the time of Mr. Dingley's lamented death. Mr. 
Payne thought nothing of self. He went on with his work 
and came into his own. He proved the adage, " Blessed 
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And as 
years went on, and now that he has gone to his reward, 
we can also say of him more forcefully than of most 
others that we have known here, " Blessed are the pure 
in heart, for they shall see God." 



[71] 



Address of Mr. Sloan, of Nebraska 

Mr. Speaker: Sereno E. Payne has passed. In his pass- 
ing the credit side of this great body has been more than 
ordinarily diminished. He occupied and filled a place 
which caucus action, conference decree, or official ap- 
pointment could not confer. 

He was the "Father of the House." But we who knew 
him do not dwell upon his age or length of service. He 
had been the chairman of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee, the greatest legislative committee in the republics 
of the world. He was its ranking minority member when 
the summons came. He was not usually referred to as 
either of these. Supporter and opponent, the press and 
public, knew him as Sereno Payne. These positions he 
adorned; him they did not exalt. 

Four years I knew him as a young Member to whom on 
occasion he had kindly spoken. However, public print 
and picture had given me an estimate which was not 
greatly modified by personal contact. 

Eulogies are spoken and epitaphs carved for men who 
have opened new fields, evolved new theories, or di- 
rected revolutions. Sereno Payne's fame will not be so 
honored. His just claim for remembrance and distinc- 
tion will rest largely upon the careful study, clear con- 
ception, and enthusiastic advocacy of that already ex- 
istent which he believed to be sound and knew to be good. 
He might properly be characterized a defender of the 
faith rather than a reformer or crusader. Had he been a 
military man he would have chosen to defend the home 
and citadel rather than campaign for foreign conquest. 

In this great body are all conceivable shades and colors 
of forensic talent, sometimes rising to genius — the word 
painter, the master of pathos, the adept at sarcasm and 

[72] 



Address of Mr. Sloan, of Nebraska 



invective, the reveler in humor and wit, the student of 
detail, the repositorj' of histoiy, the cold, uncompromis- 
ing logician, the magnetic personality, and the dramatic 
declaimer. Sereno Payne had his distinctive power. He 
stood at the head of this House in the comprehensive 
mastery, with ability to deliver with maximum force the 
controlling facts affecting the controversy. A Jove-like 
presence, a lifetime of study behind him, confident of the 
rectitude of his cause, he carried conviction to his col- 
leagues which often swept over and beyond the party 
aisle. 

During the last campaign I was asked by a newspaper 
of his district for something that Payne had done for the 
farmers that it might be published in his behalf. I sent 
a copy of that part of the law bearing his name, relating 
to that industiy in whose prosperity he was always con- 
cerned. It was sent; not what Payne had said, but the 
highest evidence of what Payne had accomplished and 
believed in. I remember well the rich glow of pleasure 
which suffused his face when I told him what had been 
done. His statute, their experience; he was content to 
abide their judgment. 

Partisan? Yes. The great characters of the nations 
nearly always have been. Narrow in partisanship? No. 
His partisanship seemed to be of that degree and extent 
which made a compact, virile, responsible organization, a 
reliable and efficient means for the accomplishment of 
his country's good. 

The culminating accomplishment of his career, the 
great law which bears his name, modified in another body 
beyond his wishes, became the storm center of criticism 
which would have broken a weaker man supported by a 
less loyal constituency. Mj' four years in this House 
witnessed a marvelous change which must have, in recent 
months, been gratifying to Sereno Payne. That law 
anathematized by partisans, ridiculed by opponents, un- 



[73] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

defended by friends — Sereno E. Payne stoutly stood for 
its general wisdom and expedience. Since the last vote of 
confidence which his people gave him, he remained long 
enough here to see that no more reproaches were cast 
upon that measure, and when he last defended it his de- 
fense remained unanswered. I d© not at this time discuss 
its merits or demerits. What I have said was intended to 
show the pride and satisfaction he must have felt upon 
the apparent reversal of public sentiment upon a work 
to which he had given the best of a life of industry, 
honesty, patriotism, and far more than ordinary mental 
power. Like the lawgiver of old, he was denied entry 
to the land of promise — restored power of his party — but 
the full view from Nebo's height must have been gratify- 
ing, indeed. 

He was steadfast in his confidence that people when 
well counseled would arrive at a wise judgment. He 
was more so in the ultimate mercy, righteousness, and 
judgment of the great Father whom he served and 
adored. His last hour was in communion with Him " who 
doeth all things well." The Sacred Book was open be- 
fore him when his ej^es were sealed from earthly vision, 
but tliey were opened to the endless beauties and sub- 
limities of the eternal. 

In that Book he had often found solace for his sorrow, 
comfort for his bereavement, inspiration for his conflict, 
hope for his ambition, and faith in the promise of that 
final reward which awaits a well-spent life. 

If his life had been an object lesson to all who would 
serve their country the circumstances of his death adds 
the final touch. It makes the Christian statesman the 
highest appellation we can give to those who serve their 
State or country. 



[74] 



Address of Mr. Wallin, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: A deserved tribute in memorial of the 
late Sereno E. Payne is a task for men who knew him 
more intimately than did I, and whose command of terms 
of admiration, whose opportunities for close inspection 
and familiarity with his many strong and noble charac- 
teristics were better than my own. 

Before I came to Congress I knew Mr. Payne slightly 
and, in common with all thinking men of the State of 
New York, ranked him as one of our most able and sturdy 
citizens. His work in this House early attracted attention 
and gi-ew more and more conspicuous as he laid before 
the country his views, especially as to the question of the 
revenues, on which he became an expert. 

Out of his close study and wide experience he gave us 
the Payne tariff law, and the day it was signed was un- 
doubtedly the proudest and most satisfactory period of 
his life as a legislator. His work had its reward in the 
tide of prosperity which swept over this Nation as a result 
of his labors and the expression in practice of his long, 
patient, and careful study and effort. He was justly 
jealous of this measure and defended it ably and con- 
vincingly on many occasions on and off this floor. 
Though superseded by a hostile administration And ma- 
jority, it to-day stands and will ever stand as a monument 
to him, its originator, as one of the most successful, most 
clearly drawn, most comprehensive and able documents 
of its character enacted in the history of the United States 
Congress. 

Closer acquaintance and relation convinced me that 
one of Mr. Payne's strongest qualities was faithfulness. 
He was faithful to every detail of life, great or small. His 
attendance in tliis House to within a few hours of his 

' [75] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Payne 

death was an example of this great and admirable at- 
tribute which he possessed. As a husband and father he 
was faithful, loving, generous, and wise. As a friend he 
was helpful, ready, and kind. Always gentlemanly, 
solicitous, and quick to comprehend, he gave to his ac- 
quaintances more than he received of courtesy, gentle- 
ness, and consideration. 

In a word, Mr. Payne was a man whose personality and 
accomplishments impressed themselves upon those whom 
he met in an unusual and pleasant manner. Deceit or 
equivocation he had not. He was an aristocrat of the old 
school, but never an autocrat in any sense. Success did 
not elate him beyond the ordinaiy plane, and failure did 
not place upon him, either in face or in mind, the mark 
with which it sometimes delights to disfigure an otherwise 
noble nature. 

Sereno Payne has been taken from us. He has been 
called home by a Father All-Wise and Omnipotent. His 
going is a loss to his district, his family, his friends, and, 
through this House, to tlie Nation. No really great man, 
such as was he, can pass away without leaving not only 
aching hearts, but a void in affairs which is a long time 
in the filling and a wound which is not soon healed. 
Particularly is this the case with a man of Mr. Payne's 
character and disposition. His daily life, sunny, radiating 
with friendship and kindness, we shall always admire 
and never forget. As a legislator, as a factor in affairs 
of his country, and at his home his career was at once 
an example and an inspiration. He was no laggard. He 
shouldered responsibilities and made history. Broad was 
his mind, keen his foresight, and brave and manly his 
course along right lines. His constituents recognized his 
good qualities and his prominence and returned him here 
to serve them and the country, with but one break, for 
over a quarter of a century. 

Peace to his ashes. We shall, indeed, miss him. 

[76] • 



Address of Mr. Moore, of Pennsylvania 

Mr. Speaker : Our modern conception of human great- 
ness sometimes induces us to underestimate the public 
services of unusual men who are around and about us, 
and to unduly exaggerate the merits of those whose fame 
has been made illustrious by time and historj'. And yet 
to-day there are great men rendering public service with 
as much patriotism and as much ability as is generally 
and historically conceded to those who have gone before, 
the difference being that they are less conspicuous in the 
popular mind to-day because they are more numerous 
than they were a century or more ago. 

Of Sereno E. Payne there are critics who might say he 
was not a great man. Our modern spirit of iconoclasm, 
and that familiarity which makes it impossible for the 
modern mind to realize that greatness of human intellect 
like the growth and development of the world's resources, 
exceed all in preceding centuries, may in some degree 
account for it. But that Sereno E. Payne possessed ele- 
ments of greatness which, upon the strength of his re- 
corded works, at some belated day may give him that 
niche in history which is vouchsafed to few, may not be 
denied. 

Mr. Payne was a product of American soil and he grew 
up and developed in the environment surrounding his 
place of birth. He advanced step by step, after the 
fashion of the typical American boy, until he was sent to 
be a spokesman for the people in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. His long and faithful services here brought 
to him a distinction for industry and devotion to the 
public welfare that all men might envy. He led the 
charge to victorj% and in many battles received and turned 

[77] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

the assault. He stood for the principles in which he 
believed and so well sustained them that the whole Nation 
came to look upon him as a champion to be relied upon in 
times of adversitj^ as well as in times of prosperity. He 
had the public confidence. What greater honor can come 
to an American citizen than this? 

Before I came to Congress, having faith in the economic 
principles for which Mr. Payne contended, I had come to 
regard him as one of the great men in our national life. 
He was the central figure of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee shaping tariff^ legislation. I had read of him as 
one who could keep his own counsel; as one who could 
be intrusted with the custody and determination of ques- 
tions vital to the welfare of industries and communities, 
and who could turn aside with a smile those who would 
disturb or thwart the work of his committee. When I 
arrived in Congress and found it was necessary to con- 
sult Mr. Payne upon many questions affecting the welfare 
of industries in my city and State, I found him in fact the 
strong, firin character about whom I had read, but 
courteous withal and determined that the scales of justice 
as between the conflicting elements should be evenly ad- 
justed. I had occasion to observe the careful and pains- 
taking work which he took upon himself to do in the 
shaping of the Payne tariff law. It was in the completion 
of this task that he again revealed those elements of great- 
ness, which even the minority members of the committee, 
on more than one occasion, conceded to him. 

If there be those who believe that Mr. Payne was not 
entirely satisfied with the great work to which his name 
has been attached, let it be remembered tha^t the effect 
of the Payne tariff law, no matter how men may have 
differed as to its Separate schedules, was not to detract 
from the progress or prosperity of the country, but to 
advance it to its highest state of achievement. 



[78] 



Address of Mr. Moore, of Pennsylvania 

When the Payne law was repealed and the general who 
had led the hosts to victoiy was called upon to cover the 
retreat he was still forceful, still brave, still great. He did 
not hesitate to defend the principles for which he stood, 
even though defeated, but took up the gage of battle and 
cheerfully and faithfully continued to fight just as he did 
when the tide was in his favor. 

Mr. Speaker, it was an honor to serve on the Ways and 
Means Committee with Sereno E. Payne. When I was 
added to the minority in that committee I took up the 
work with respect and reverence for our distinguished 
leader. To him it was necessary to appeal upon disputed 
points. To him it was wise to go when troubled by doubts. 
And, oh, what a relief it was, when controversies arose 
in committee or on the floor of the House, to have this 
towering giant of the protective policy rush to the rescue. 
In such emergencies his knowledge and experience were 
invaluable. Though I came to know Mr. Payne far better 
than I had hoped, the genuine respect I entertained for 
him in the beginning continued until the end. The better 
I knew him, indeed, the greater I respected him. And 
when, on the morning after his death, I gazed upon his 
rigid body as it lay in his apartments in this city, majestic 
even in death, I was grateful that I had served with him, 
for I felt that a great public servant — one who would long 
be remembered — had been called to his reward. 

And when, Mr. Speaker, you were pleased to add me 
to the committee to escort his mortal remains to the 
beautiful town of Auburn, to be laid away under the sod 
and the snow in the local hilltop cemetery, I knew I was 
not mistaken. For in the town where his early life had 
been spent and in the church where he worshiped I had 
witnessed the poignant regret and sorrow of a people who 
knew him best and whose trust in him had never been 
shaken. Monuments to great men may tower high in 



[79] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

public places where the multitude can come to see and 
admire them, but no memorial of granite or bronze is 
more to be desired than the love and esteem of the " home 
folks" — and these, we learned on that sad journey, had 
been earned, and retained through all his earthlj' battles, 
by our lamented colleague, Sereno E. Payne. 



[801 



Address of Mr. Danforth, of New York 

Mr. Speaker: We have met this morning in memory 
of a great man — one whose greatness was shown at its 
best by the manner in which he lived his life from day to 
day and from year to year, performing each day his full 
and exact duty as he saw it in all its details. He was a 
devoted husband and father, a steadfast friend, a public- 
spirited citizen, a conscientious official, and representa- 
tive of the people. 

Sereno Elisha Payne was born at Hamilton, N. Y., in 
1843, and was graduated from the University of Rochester, 
N. Y., in 1864. In that institution it was his privilege to 
study under a remarkable teacher, Martin B. Aaderson, 
then president of the university, and he was fond of 
quoting a precept of that eminent educator, " Bring some- 
thing to pass, 3'^oung man," and how thoroughly he ab- 
sorbed and lived up to that injunction his after life is 
proof. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, and thereafter 
practiced his chosen profession in the city of Auburn. In 
1868 he became city clerk and held that position until 
1871, when he served as supervisor for one term. From 
1873 he was for six years district attorney of Cayuga 
County, and in the many important cases he tried he was 
noted for the skill and fairness he showed as prosecuting 
officer. He was then, in 1879, elected president of the 
board of education of Auburn, and after holding that 
office for three years he was chosen for what proved to 
be his life work — Representative in Congress; and with 
the exception of one term he was returned regularly and 
had been reelected again in November, 1914. 

His alma mater and Colgate University honored him 
and themselves by conferring upon him the degree of 
doctor of laws. 

4094°— 16 6 [81] 



Memorial Addresses: Representativ-e Payne 

In all the oflBces he held before coming to Washington 
he did his work so thoroughly that each was but a step- 
ping stone to the next, and this early acquired habit of 
complete devotion to the task at hand proved to be the 
secret of his success here. 

For 25 years a member of the great Committee on Ways 
and Means, he studied and became an expert on the sub- 
ject of the tariff. In the preparation of the McKinley and 
Dingley bills he was an important factor, and as chair- 
man of the committee he framed the bill in 1909 which 
bore his name. No better illustration of the mental and 
physical endurance of the man could be given than the 
labor involved in preparing in one lifetime three tariff 
bills and his complete mastery of such an intricate and 
complex subject. But this capacity for close study and 
persistent application might not have brought to him pre- 
eminence in this subject had he not been blessed with a 
most retentive memorj'. 

Mr. Payne was a master of debate, always ready and 
sometimes in his zeal giving hard blows, but I believe his 
adversaries, though vanquished, seldom bore him lasting 
grudge for their defeat. 

It was my good fortune to secure a seat next his when 
I became a Member of this body, and what had been but 
an acquaintance ripened into a true friendship, and, as 
opportunity served to let me know him better, I readily 
understood how he had attained the predominating posi- 
tion he enjoyed in the councils of the Republican Party, 
of which he was always a stanch and devoted member, 
and also how he came to have so many friends in the 
ranks of both parties. 

His public life had been so long and had been lived in 
such an eventful period of our country's history that an 
evening passed in his company when he was wont to re- 
view the events in which he had taken part was always 
one of deep interest, and his audience was certain to be 

[82] 



Address of Mr. Danforth, of New York 

thrilled by his recitals. I deem myself singularly fortu- 
nate in having enjoyed many such evenings in the past 
four years. 

He is and will be missed by many friends, but the 
memory of his life and deeds will be cherished by those 
friends, and they will have the consoling thought that he 
died without protracted illness or suffering, retaining to 
the end his full mental vigor and the power to enjoy with 
them the simple pleasures of which he was so fond. 



[83] 



Proceedings in the Senate 

Friday, December li, Wii. 

A message from the House of Representatives, bj' J. C. 
South, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate the 
intelligence of the death of Hon. Sereno E. Payne, a 
Representative from the State of New York, and trans- 
mitted resolutions of the House thereon, including an 
invitation to the Vice President and the Senate to attend 
the funeral of the deceased Representative in the House 
of Representatives, to be held on Sunday, December 13, 
1914, at 11 o'clock a. m. 

The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
resolutions from the House of Representatives, which will 
be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows: 

In the House of Representatives, 

December 11, 191^. 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. Sereno Elisha Payne, a Representative from 
the State of New York. 

Resolved, That a committee of the House be appointed to take 
order for superintending the funeral of Mr. Payne in the House 
of Representatives at 11 o'clock a. m. on Sunday, December 13, 
1914, and that the House of Representatives attend the same. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the remains of Mr. 
Payne be removed from Washington to Auburn, N. Y., in charge 
of the Sergeant at Arms, attended by the committee, who shall 
have full power to carry these resolutions into effect, and that the 
necessary expenses in connection therewith be paid out of the 
contingent fund of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these pro- 
ceedings to the Senate and invite the Vice President and the Sen- 
ate to attend the funeral in the House of Representatives and to 
appoint a committee to act with the committee of the House. 

Resolved, That invitations be extended to the President of the 
United States and the members of his Cabinet, the Chief Justice 

[85] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; 
the Diplomatic Corps (through the Secretary of State), the 
Admiral of the Navy, and the Chief of Staff of the Army to attend 
the funeral in the House of Representatives. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House do now 
adjourn. 

In accordance with the foregoing resolution the Speaker ap- 
pointed the following committee: Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Underwood, 
Mr. Mann, Mr. Jones, Mr. Talbott of Maryland, Mr. Cooper, Mr. 
Gillett, Mr. Bartholdt, Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Butler, Mr. Greene of Mas- 
sachusetts, Mr. Hamilton of Michigan, Mr. Mondell, Mr. Fordney, 
Mr. Murdock, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Moore, Mr. Kitchin, Mr. Rainey, 
Mr. Dixon, Mr. Hull, Mr. Hammond, Mr. Sloan, Mr. Brown of New 
York, Mr. O'Leary, Mr. Wilson of New York, Mr. Dale, Mr. Maher, 
Mr. Calder, Mr. GriflBn, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Metz, Mr. Riordan, Mr. 
Goldfogle, Mr. Levy, Mr. Conry, Mr. Dooling, Mr. Carew, Mr. 
Patten of New York, Mr. Chandler of New York, Mr. Cantor, Mr. 
George, Mr. Bruckner, Mr. Goulden, Mr. Oglesby, Mr. Taylor of 
New York, Mr. Piatt, Mr. McClellan, Mr. Ten Eyck, Mr. Parker of 
New York, Mr. Wallin, Mr. Mott, Mr. Talbott of New York, Mr. 
Fairchild, Mr. Clancy, Mr. Underhill, Mr. Dunn, Mr. Danforth, 
Mr. Gittins, Mr. Smith of New York, Mr. Driscoll, Mr. Hamilton of 
New York, and Mr. Loft. 

Mr. O'Gorman. Mr. President, I have to convey to the 
Senate the sad intelUgence of the death of an illustrious 
citizen of the State of New York, who was concluding his 
thirtieth year of useful and distinguished service in the 
House of Representatives, the Hon. Sereno E. Payne. In 
connection with this announcement I submit the resolu- 
tions which I send to the desk, and ask their adoption. 

The Vice President. The resolutions will be read. 

The resolutions (S. Res. 499) were read, considered by 
unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as 
follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the 
announcement of the death of Hon. Sereno Elisha Payne, late a 
Representative from the State of New York. 

Resolved, That a committee of 10 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President, to join a committee appointed by the House of 

[86] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



Representatives, to take order for the superintending of the 
funeral of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Senate accepts the invitation of the House of 
Representatives extended to the President of the Senate and the 
Senate to attend the funeral of the deceased to be held in the Hall 
of the House of Representatives at 11 o'clock a. m. on Sunday 
next, December 13, 1914. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives. 

The Vice President appointed under the second resolu- 
tion as the committee on the part of the Senate Mr. Root, 
Mr. O'Gorman, Mr. Clark of Wyoming, Mr. Martine of 
New Jersey, Mr. Brandegee, Mr. Ashurst, Mr. Lodge, Mr. 
Smith of Georgia, Mr. Nelson, and Mr. Bankhead. 

The Vice President. The Chair notices that in the reso- 
lutions of the House the Vice President, among others, is 
invited to attend the funeral ceremonies of the late Repre- 
sentative from the State of New York. That the Vice 
President may not be conspicuous by his absence, it is 
necessary to state that he has an engagement for Sunday 
next, which will call him out of the city on that day. The 
Vice President does not desire that his absence should be 
taken as a mark of disrespect to the deceased or of any 
discourtesy to the invitation. 

Mr. O'Gorman. Mr. President, I move, as a further mark 
of respect to the memoiy of the deceased, that the Senate 
do now adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 1 
o'clock and 30 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
to-morrow, Saturday, December 12, 1914, at 12 o'clock 
meridian. 

Saturday, December 12, 191i. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

Almighty God, we know Thee in the renewing of our 
lives as we seek the center and source of all truth. Our 

[87] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Payne 

approach into Thy presence is the gateway into that in- 
finite calm and peace for which our spirits were made. 
Glorify Thyself in this moment of prayer that out of it 
we may carry the gloi-y and fervor of divine inspiration. 
A day in Thy court is better than a thousand. A moment's 
lifting up of our hearts to God gives to us an outlook of 
infinite possibility. 

The Nation is called upon to-day to mourn the loss of a 
statesman. We bless God for laying His hand upon men 
who are furnished for every good word and work. We 
thank Thee that in the infinite depths of life there is a 
unity of brotherhood. We bless Thee that our traditions 
hold us not so strong as bur brotherhood, and that a com- 
mon loss is felt in the falling of a servant of the people. 
GranJ, we pray Thee, still to raise up men whose character 
may stand the test of public life and in whose patriotism 
the Nation can rest secure. Add Thy blessings to us this 
day. For Christ's sake. Amen. 

Mr. Root submitted the following resolution (S. Res. 
500), which was read, considered by unanixnous consent, 
and agreed to : 

Resolved, That when the hour of 3 o'clock this afternoon ar- 
rives the Senate talie a recess until to-morrow, Sunday, December 
13, at 10 o'clock and 45 minutes a. m., in order to proceed in a 
body to the House of Representatives to attend the funeral serv- 
ices of the late Sereno E. Payne. 

The Vice President. Inasmuch as the Senator from New 
Hampshire [Mr. Gallinger] was not in the Chamber on 
yesterday when the Chair appointed the committee on the 
part of the Senate to attend the funeral of the late Repre- 
sentative Payne, the Chair now desires to appoint him as 
a member of that committee on account of his long serv- 
ice in the House of Representatives with the deceased 
Representative. 

[88] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



Sunday, December 13, 19 H. 
(Legislative day of Saturday, Dec. 12, 19U.) 

The Senate reassembled at 10 o'clock and 45 minutes 
a. m. on the expiration of the recess. 

The Presiding Officer (Mr. Thornton in the chair). In 
conformity with the resolution of the Senate accepting the 
invitation of the House of Representatives to participate 
in the funeral services of the late Representative Sereno E. 
Payne, of New York, to take place to-day, the Senate will 
proceed in a body to the Hall of the House of Representa- 
tives. At the conclusion of the ceremonies there the Sen- 
ate will return to its Chamber, when the proper motion 
for an adjournment will be made. The Sergeant at Arms 
will execute the order of the Senate. 

Thereupon (at 10 o'clock and 47 minutes a. m.) the 
Senate, headed by the Sergeant at Arms and preceded by 
the Presiding Officer and the Secretary', proceeded to the 
Hall of the House of Representatives. 

The Senate returned to its Chamber at 11 o'clock and 
46 minutes a. m. and Mr. Thornton resumed the chair. 

Mr. O'GoRMAN. I move that the Senate adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to, and (at 11 o'clock and 47 
minutes a. m.) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, 
Monday, December 14, 1914, at 12 o'clock meridian. 



[89] 



TRIBUTES 

By the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives 

Whereas by Divine Providence, our beloved colleague, 
Sereno E. Payne, was called from us to his lasting rest on 
December 10, 1914: 

Resolved, That we, the members of the Committee on 
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, of 
which committee he was chairman for 12 years, express 
our deep regard for this illustrious man. 

For nearly a third of a century he was selected by the 
people of New York to represent them in Congress, where, 
on account of his long and faithful service, he was known 
as the " Father of the House." 

His power of mind and consistent course made him a 
leader among men. He was strong in his reasoning and 
clear in his statement, which, with an undaunted courage, 
commanded the respect and admiration of all. He was 
upright in character and thoughtful of others, which won 
him true friendship and lasting affection. 

Resolved, That we extend our heartfelt sympathy to his 
bereaved family. Their sorrow is ours. His life was an 
inspiration to all who had the privilege of witnessing his 
work and worth; his departure is a severe loss to his 
friends, his State, and his country, who will long cherish 
his memory. 

Be it further resolved, That these resolutions be spread 
on the minutes of the committee and that a copy be sent 
to his family, whom he so dearly loved. 

(Signed) J. W. Fordney. 

A. Mitchell Palmer. 
Winfield S. Hammond. 



[91] 



By the United States District Court for the Northern 
District of New York 

At a term of the District Court of the United States for 
the Northern District of New York, held at the city of 
Auburn on the 11th day of Decembei-, 1914. 

Present: Hon. George W. Ray, judge. 

The court in announcing the death of Hon. Sereno E. 
Payne offered the following testimonial, which, upon 
motion, is ordered spread upon the minutes of the court: 

This court has learned with profound sorrow and deep regret 
of the death of the Hon. Sereno E. Payne, which occurred sud- 
denly yesterday in the city of Washington, where he was in 
attendance upon his public duties. Mr. Payne was not only an 
honored and respected member of this court, but of all the State 
courts of the State of New York and of the Supreme Court of 
the United States. His career at the bar was always honorable 
and upright. His ability as a lawyer was conceded by all. For 
30 years Mr. Payne has been an honored, an able, and a respected 
Representative in Congress from the Auburn district, and for 
many years of that period he served as Chairman of the Ways 
and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, the most 
important committee in that great body. This fact of itself is 
a testimonial to his ability and the respect in which he was held 
by his fellows. It has fallen to the lot of but few men to com- 
mand the respect, esteem, and confidence of his neighbors and 
friends to the extent that almost without opposition he has been 
continued by their suffrages to occupy public office as their Rep- 
resentative for more than a quarter of a century. The test of his 
confidence is applied in the case of a Representative in Congress 
once each two years. Mr. Payne in all kinds of political weather 
and under all changes, and in the midst of all political storms, 
has withstood all criticisms brought against him. He always 
triumphed, and his victories were marked. 

Mr. Payne was a kind and a courteous gentleman. He was 
conscientious and honest, and made no pretense to be that which 



[92] 



Tributes 



he was not. He strode along the pathway of public service with 
the tread of a giant, and wherever he touched legislation he left 
finger marks which will be noted in the years to come by those 
who study the history of our Nation and its laws. 

In the halls of legislation he will be missed; in this city of 
Auburn, where he was loved and respected, and where he has 
lived so long, he will be missed; at the bar which he has adorned 
and among the members of the legal profession he will be missed. 
There is a vacant chair, and it will never be filled. 

It is further ordered that a copy of the foregoing testimonial 
be forwarded to the son of Mr. Payne, and that this court do 
now adjourn in respect to his memory. 

Attest: 

[seal.] W. S. Doolittle, 

Clerk. 



[93] 



By the Cayuga County Bar Association 

At a term of the District Court of the United States for 
the Northern District of New York held at the city of 
Auburn on December 11, 1914. 

Present: Hon. George W. Ray, judge. 

Mr. E. C. Akin, representing the Cayuga County Bar 
Association, presents the following copy of a memorial 
adopted by said association, and it is ordered spread upon 
the minutes of the court and a copy thereof forwarded 
to the son of Mr. Payne : 

The members of the bar of Cayuga County record their pro- 
found appreciation of the life and labors which were brought to 
a close by the death of Sereno E. Payne. 

In his young manhood he became the district attorney of this 
county, which office he held for six years with great ability and 
success. A larger number of homicide cases were tried during 
his incumbency than during any similar period in the history 
of this county. As a civil practitioner he excelled in the force 
and power of his appeals to the jury, as well as by the compre- 
hensive grasp of all the details of a case. 

Bringing his ripe experience as a lawyer into the service of 
the Nation, he was, in 1882, elected as a Representative of this 
district to Congress, a position which he held from that time, with 
the exception of a part of one term, until his death. In 1889 he 
was appointed a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in that capacity helped to frame the McKinley tariff bill of 
1890, the Dingley bill of 1897, and the Payne tariff bill of 1909. 
He became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and 
leader of the House in 1899, and continued in that capacity until 
1911. This is said to be the longest period of service, both as a 
member and as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, in 
the history of Congress. From this length of service, his hard 
study, and his great ability it came to pass that no man in the 
country had so wide and deep a knowledge of the tariff and its 
effect upon industry as Mr. Payne, 



[94] 



Tributes 



Independent and courageous, he followed his convictions into 
action and voted against measures which he considered crude, 
unwise, wasteful, or extravagant. He was by nature conservative, 
and was one of those who acted as a balance wheel in the great 
legislative mill of Congress. 

His character was above reproach. No breath of suspicion 
ever came to cloud his unsullied reputation. Personally he was 
most kind, genial, and affable, but these qualities did not detract 
from his real greatness. His name will live in history, and it 
will be many years before this bar association will be called upon 
to do honor to so great a man. 

Attest: 

[seal.] W. S. Doolittle, 

Clerk. 



[95] 



By the Common Council of the City of Auburn, N. Y. 

It is difficult to pay fitting tribute to the late Sereno 
Elisha Payne — there is so much to be said about him that 
is good that it is puzzling to know where to begin, and 
the time at hand forbids such a recounting as his record 
deserves. To say that he was honest, courageous, capable, 
and indefatigable only furnishes the leads under which 
almost endless words miglit be written. From his early 
political life down tlirough the long years, as city clerk, 
supervisor, district attorney, head of the local school 
board and, lastly. Representative of his district in the 
lower House of Congress, we find him the same faithful, 
efficient public servant. 

Mr. Payne rose to heights it is the lot of few men to 
attain. To be a Member of Congress is no small honor, 
but Mr. Payne was of a rare type of his day, a man of 
exceptional equipment, who never lost sight of the fact 
that his first duty was to his country, and he applied his 
tireless energies to the great tasks before him. He became 
a national figure, almost as well known in any part of 
the country as he was in his home city. He honored his 
position rather than the position honoi'ing him. 

His loss will be keenly felt among his friends, in his 
home city and county, in his congressional district; his 
party will miss his wise counsel — but most of all the 
Nation will lose. 

Citizens of Auburn and Cayuga County have the 
peculiar satisfaction that one among them filled such a 
high office and the greater satisfaction that he was big 
enough for his big task. 

It is particularly fitting that this common council should 
add its feeble word of commendation. Mr. Payne for a 



[96] 



Tributes 



time filled the position of city clerk, and as such was 
clerk of the then common council, a predecessor of this 
body. It was his first public office, and it was there that 
his rare abilities and sterling honesty and faithfulness 
first came to public notice, and it furnished the stepping 
stone to a public life that has been a credit to both the 
man and the community in which he lived and has made 
his memory a thing imperishable. 

State of New York, County of Cayuga, city of Auburn, ss: 
I, J. S. Hanlon, city clerk of the city of Auburn, N. Y., 
do hereby certify that the annexed is a true and correct 
copy of a memorial unanimously adopted by the common 
council of said city at a meeting held December 12, 1914, 
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and 
affixed the corporate seal of said city this 30th day of 
December, 1914. 

[seal.] J. S. Hanlon, 

City Clerk. 



4094°— 16 7 [97] 



By the Republican State Committee of New York 

Whereas if has pleased the Divine Ruler of the Universe 
to remove from his earthly sphere of activity and useful- 
ness Sereno E. Payne, and 

"Whereas the deceased was one of the foremost states- 
men of this country, this State committee deems it fitting 
to take appropriate notice of his death. 

Sereno E. Pa\tsie was born in Hamilton, N. Y., June 26, 
1843. He was graduated from the University of Rochester 
in 1864, was admitted to the bar in 1866, and then began 
the practice of law. He soon forged to the front in his 
profession by reason of his industry and activity. Early 
in life he became interested in politics. He held many 
positions of honor and trust in his home city and county, 
and was frequently elected a delegate to Republican State 
and national conventions. But his most conspicuous pub- 
lic service was rendered as a Member of the House of 
Representatives. He was a Member of that body for 30 
years. For 12 years he was chairman of the Ways and 
Means Committee and Republican leader of the House, 
serving as Republican leader four years longer than any 
other man in the histoi-y of this country. He was a mem- 
ber of the Ways and Means Committee 24 years, breaking 
all records as a continuous member of that committee. 
He was the author of the Porto Rican tariff act, and in 
1898 was elected Speaker pro tempore of the House and 
signed many important bills, including the act annexing 
Hawaii. He was a member of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee when the Mills tariff bill, the Wilson tariff bill, the 
McKinley tariff bill, and the Dingley tariff bill were all 



[98] 



Tributes 



framed, and he was chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee and author of the Payne tariff bill. He was 
a member of the committee when the present Underwood 
tariff law was framed, and was still a member at the time 
of his death. He was an acknowledged expert on the 
tariff question and one of the most influential Republican 
leaders in the Nation. Mr. Payne was a striking figure 
physically and intellectually. Intelligence, honesty, integ- 
rity, and courage were the corner stones of his character. 
Upon this magnificent foundation he erected a private 
and public career that will forever remain a rich legacy 
to his family, to his friends, and to his countrj% therefore 
be it 

Resolved, That in his death the country has lost one of 
its most influential and conspicuous statesmen, and 
the Republican Party one of its great leaders, and be it 
further 

Resolved, That we tender our sincere and heartfelt 

sympathy to the bereaved family of the deceased, and 

that a copy of these resolutions be inscribed upon the 

records of the State committee and a copy transmitted to 

his son. 

Charles H. Betts, 

Charles S. Butler, 

Bertrand H. Snell, 

Committee. 



[99] 



H 



^'y^ 



